There is a tendency, when we talk about an organization's core values, to transport ourselves mentally into the realm of morality, ethics and humanism. We expect to see values like integrity, ethics, caring for society, and humanity trumpeted from the highest heights and endorsed by the leadership team, who implore us to believe that these organizational values are more important than short-term profits. Terms like ethical leadership and values-based leadership surreptitiously reinforce this perspective. It allows us, as observers, to beat the moral drum, while wagging our fingers accusingly at executives, who, we strongly suspect, are only in it for the money.

Of course morality and ethics are important in an organizational context, especially in an era where some large corporations have done much to harm the public trust. But they are not enough, in the same way that it is not enough for me to define myself as a person who doesn’t cheat on their tax returns. It may be true, but it is singularly underwhelming, and is in no way sufficient for me to thrive. Our own research shows that such foundational organizational values (respect, integrity, ethics, fairness, etc.) are taken for granted by stakeholders - perhaps foolishly so - and they do not do much to enhance perceptions about the organization if they are explicitly stated. If they are, however, violated, that's a different story.

Values vs. Policy Directives

I should acknowledge, though, that focusing attention on the obvious has some value. In contexts where there may, for example, be good reason to think that management or employees could be lured into shady deals, it may be important for leaders in the organization to emphasize ethics and integrity. But are those really core values, or are they simply policy statements - directional signals - about doing business without shooting your foot off? And if they are not core values, then what are core values?

There are as many definitions of core organizational values as there are academics. Many are slightly nuanced versions of others, but they all tend to share some common ground - namely that core values are the guiding principles and beliefs that shape all decisions in the organization, supporting it in its quest to achieve its core purpose. Essentially this means that any principle or belief could qualify as a core value if it met the conditions implicit in the definition. So how do we choose them?

Checklist Values

There is a great deal of lip service paid to core values. In my experience this is largely as a result of executives not fully understanding the power that values have to shape success. It may also explain why many executives' eyes glaze over when the subject of core values comes up, and why the values component of the strategic planning retreat is often left till after lunch on the third day. In these situations, the core values of the organization simply becomes a list of bland platitudes that are in no way inspiring, but at least they have been checked off the stratplanning to do list. And so on this list we are likely to see values such as integrity, compliance, ethics, teamwork, etc. - all noble values - but there is some magical ingredient missing. This approach is akin to giving a child set of water colour paints and expecting great art to appear.

But what if there was an artist who had a vision of a great image in mind, and who then put her rich palette of hues and shades to work with skill, confidence and commitment to her goal? The colours combine together on the canvas, not as individual isolated colours, but as those that conspire to reveal magnificent art, the kind of art that inspires us and fills us with awe. In this metaphor the vision of a great image is the core purpose of the organization, and the fifty shades and hues used by the artist are the organizational values. The artist, of course, represents the leadership of the organization.

But what if there was an artist who had a vision of a great image in mind, and who then put her rich palette of hues and shades to work with skill, confidence and commitment to her goal? The colours combine together on the canvas, not as individual isolated colours, but as those that conspire to reveal magnificent art, the kind of art that inspires us and fills us with awe. In this metaphor the vision of a great image is the core purpose of the organization, and the fifty shades and hues used by the artist are the organizational values. The artist, of course, represents the leadership of the organization.

It goes further than just visual art, though. In an organizational context employees are participants in the artwork. The vision and values can mobilize and engage them in the fulfilment of the core purpose of the organization. Or they can be confused, or worse, revulsed by the aimless and unharmonious blotches of colour on the canvas, and simply set about doing their jobs for their next paycheque.

The Values Palette

Now what if we revert back to our artist, who approaches her canvas with zeal and, let's say, a Turneresque pastoral image in mind, and finds the background to her work of art already in place on the canvas - much as the culture of an organization is already in place when management decides to forge ahead with its new strategic direction. Our artist then simply has to finish the work off, bringing brilliance to a background that is consonant and supportive.

But it could be otherwise. The canvas could have the backdrop of Parisian night scene, with dark, dense colours and few flecks of light. Our artist may then have much work to do trying to get her impression to achieve prominence, painting over the dark colours with thick layers, hoping that its intensity will not show through. In the same way, the management of the organization will have difficulty in getting its vision to succeed if the embedded organizational culture is at odds with where they want to go.

An artist needs to know what palette of colours is available to her in order to conceptualize great art. And if there is already some background in place, it is important for the artist to inspect the canvas to see how the colours have been arranged. Only then will she know if her vision is feasible, and how much effort it will take to realize it.

In the same way, organizations need to understand the palette of values available to them, and how these have already been embedded in the organization to shape its culture. It seems so simple, yet so few organizations do it.

Christie Christelis
CEO, Consilient Inc,
March 2015