PREFACE:
How any organization functions will be guided by its values. Organizational values will result from the values of the most influential people in the organization. That can sometimes be the recognized leader of the organization but it can also be other individuals. This is why it is so critical that organizations actually assess the values of the people in the organization.
Ideally, the assessment of values will begin at the top. Win the Bigger Game tries to always start with the executive team and then work down to include all leadership positions. Eventually it can be of value to understand what underlies the decisions and actions of everyone in the organization.
The question posed by this article is can you really measure values. This is an important question because we have come to a point in our world where what gets measured is what gets our attention. Many leaders have come to look at “values” as important but ethereal. Too light and delicate to be of much use in the rough and tumble world of real business. However, what we have found is that having real values, understanding those values, and then acting in accordance with those values creates an organizational culture that has real impact on outcomes. In fact, research by James Heskett Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, states: “The point is that organization culture is not a soft concept. Its impact on profit can be measured and quantified. And in organizations with large numbers of customer-facing employees, the sum of the effects of employee turnover, referrals of potential employees by existing ones, productivity, customer loyalty, and referrals of new customers attributable to culture can add up to half of the difference in operating income between organizations in the same business.” (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6818.html)
So the answer to the posed question had better be yes, you really can measure values. Here’s how!
THE ARTICLE:
Can You Really Measure Values?
In past articles I’ve suggested that we can measure values and beliefs. I can hear some detractors mumbling “you can’t measure values!” Well, I disagree. In fact several thousand researchers also disagree. These people are known as axiologists and the science is axiology, the study of values.
I have conducted over 1,000 assessments and I have 10s of thousands of pages of reports. I’ve also conducted many interviews of people who’ve taken these assessments. These experiences tell me that we not only measure values but based on the comments the assessments are extremely accurate.
So let’s look at some examples from a few clients. For each person I will discuss their clarity of views and affinity for: other people, solving problems, working with systems, their own contributions, satisfaction with their role in the world, and the future.
The first client values people more than things or himself and is generally trusting of people. In problem situations he takes an innovative approach while looking for what’s wrong in the situation. He’s also very innovative when dealing with systems but is not inclined to give himself credit for successes and accepts too much blame for failures. Additionally he is not very satisfied with role he plays in his work but is very optimistic about the future.
The second client sees people with crystal clarity and is skeptical of their motives. She also has tremendous insight into problems and looks for the good in situations. She values things more than people and people much more than ideas and systems. She can accept the credit for success or the blame for failure while being very satisfied with the role she plays both in her job and her personal life. She possesses a crystal clear view of the future but is somewhat pessimistic about where she will end up in that future.
The last client I want to mention is an interesting one. This person has a very clear view of people, things, and ideas and values people more than things and things more than ideas. However, this person takes a very negative approach to problems and systems. This person is sought after to help solve problems in his company because he can always see what’s wrong. He is somewhat unclear about what his role is and is not always satisfied with the role he is given but he generally shifts the blame for problems onto systems or other people. As far as the future is concerned, this person is extremely optimistic but is not very clear as to why.
Each factor mentioned above is measured and assigned a value from 1 to 50. A score of 1 would be attained through crystal clarity regarding the factor and a lack of any bias. A score of 50 results from having extreme difficulty seeing the factor and being either 100% in favor or 100% opposed. This then indicates a tendency to act in certain ways. Understanding the nature of our values helps us understand why we do what we do. We can use that knowledge to adjust our actions. Our success requires assistance from other people and understanding how we affect them based on our values and actions can never be a bad thing.
SUMMATION:
Measuring values is the science of Axiology. The science works because we can, through forced choice activities see what an individual’s preferences are under a variety of circumstances. In the Standard Hartman Value Profile Assessment you are asked to rank order 18 phrases or ideas; by placing a numerical value of one on the statement you feel best about and 18 on what you feel worst about. These statements represent people, things, and ideas; some phrases may conjure up good feelings, some more neutral feelings, and some bad feelings. How you look at each phrase depends on how you look at the world and what we have found is that people look at the world in many different ways.
There is a second set of phrases which are stated as personal quotations. One is “I like my work—it does me good.” Once again, you are to rank order these quotations from good to bad based on how you feel about the statement. These 18 statements provide insight into how you look at yourself. From these statements and your order of these statements we acquire some amazing insights into you. Of the hundreds of debriefs I have completed it never ceases to amaze me how people react to the reports. People are continuously blown away by how accurate the interpretations are.
Once individuals have these personal insights, they can begin to evaluate how they work within any given organization. They can become better leaders, or sales people, or route drivers. Knowing what your strengths are helps you to work from your strengths. Knowing where your weaknesses are allows you to minimize the impact of those weaknesses. And then, exposing the blind spots can keep you from tripping over them which people do over and over because they don’t realize how what they do affects how other people feel about them. Armed with real knowledge allows organizations to deal with a plethora of issues that just seemed to hang around like the plague.
But like everything in life, knowing isn’t doing. It is essential that leaders take the knowledge they gain about organizational culture and the values of the organization and use it to promote the creation of a culture that is desired. Most cultures in most organization happen by accident. The intent of this information is to help leaders design the culture they want. We call this “Creating a Culture by Design” as opposed to having a default culture.
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