It’s springtime! The trees are beginning to bud, and soon they will be in full bloom. I am reminded of the “great tree service debacle” several years ago.
We had several beautiful trees that required spraying to ward off disease and bugs. Our tree service would come about four times during the season to spray the trees. We had used them for years and they were dependable, so I didn’t pay too much attention to when they came.
However, that year, they showed up one day while my son was mowing the lawn.
Returning from work I noticed them as I drove up my driveway – the sprayer standing next to the dogwood and my son approaching him pushing the lawn mower.
The spray was aimed at the tree, but the wind carried the spray directly toward my son.
I jumped out of my car and ran to the man who was spraying.
“Watch out!” I yelled as I ran toward him. “Your spray is blowing on that boy!”
He stopped spraying as I approached him and smiled at me patiently. “I know,” he replied in a reassuring voice. “I asked him and he said he didn’t mind.”
The boy didn’t mind. But his mother sure did!
Who did I hold responsible? The tree service company, not their employee.
What was the cause of their problem? Lack of clear organizational values.
When organizations don’t articulate clear values, individuals are left to their own devices to determine which values should guide them. In the case of my tree service, the nice gentleman spraying my son with chemicals was guided by a value of courtesy. He had quite nicely asked my son whether he minded, and he was as nice as could be when he explained to me that there was no problem.
What did I do? I fired them on the spot. I wasn’t going to wait for them to change their company’s culture. You don’t mess with a mama bear!
Values are the bedrock of organizational culture.
Mark Miller says that culture is “the collective habits of the people. Not the aspirations of leadership. Culture is not what we wish it would be, it is what it is. It is what people actually do with a high degree of predictability.”
Values are guiding principles that provide broad guidelines on how to behave on a day-to-day basis. When an organization shares the same values, they will develop the collective habits that Mark describes.
Clear values are a business imperative.
I wish my tree service company had articulated a value around environmental safety.
If they had, the sprayer might have knocked on my door when he arrived and suggested that I shut my windows. He might have noticed there were children’s toys in the yard and move them before he sprayed. And he certainly wouldn’t have sprayed while the wind carried the mist onto a young man who was mowing the lawn.
And if they had identified and clearly communicated their values, they would still be working for us.
Thanks Jesse. Values are such a critical element of an organization. They are much more than window dressing or something that sounds good. Once articulated they have a powerful strategic value. Values set the benchmark for integrity…do we walk our talk? Organizations act through it’s members. Anytime any individual on behalf of the organization proposes doing something, or not, the behavior can be measured in terms of expressed values. If it’s a violation of those values the behavior ought to be a no no. In some sense it’s a simple benchmark. Everyone can maintain the organizational integrity by making sure behaviors align with values.
Great thoughts, Stewart. You remind me that there can be a danger in articulating organizational values. Articulated values that are not in concert with actual daily behavior are a proclamation of lack of integrity.
Love love this, Jesse. Particularly the necessity of having individuals define what behavior demonstrates the value. Without that–a printed paper of “values” is worthless. It would be interesting to take a poll and find out what values we think are being displayed in Congress right now.
Your comments reminded me of my post Five Easy Ways To Tell If An Organization Is Really Values-Driven It’s not hard to tell what an organization’s real values are.
This post really makes my head spin (in a good way). We have found that as we define and articulate our organizational values (Respect, Resilience, Optimism, Integrity, Compassion and Humility), the people we hire seem to fit better. If I haven’t shared our Core Values video with you yet, I would like to. Let me know!
Another advantage to articulating values – you draw people whose personal values are aligned. Would love to see your video, Dave. If there’s a link, please post it here so others can have access to it as well.
Values: They are who we really are. We can recite our values, post them on our wall, or wear them on a t-shirt but what we really value defines our life. The evidence is in or actions.
Indeed! We communicate our true values through our actions. Thanks for adding to the conversation, Jane!