88 - Social Architecture - Values

The Values component of Social Architecture

I’m writing about social architecture: the why, the components and the actions. I’ve covered Mission and Vision as components. Next: Values.

What are values? The best definition I’ve found is: 

“Fundamental beliefs on which your business and its behaviour are based. They are the guiding principles that your business uses to manage its internal affairs as well as its relationships with customers”

Why have values? That’s the wrong question. All social groups have values. Businesses and teams are no different. So the real question is: why take the time to be deliberate about values versus leaving them to organically develop? What is the value of defined values vs effectively leaving it to chance?

For a large part of my career, I would have been dismissive about the value of values. My perspective is completely different today. They present the ability to decide what we stand for, and then stand for it all the time. The vocabulary of well-defined values brings catalytic impact, as team members use them to hold themselves and others to account. They bring immense clarity for hiring.

Over the coming days I will write more about our values at Mayday:

• Delight

• Ownership

• Curiosity

• Boldness

• Balance