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Jun 25, 2022Liked by Loren Feldman

The issue that I often see when I look at core value, is they either are not really core values or there is no clarifying statement around the value.

For example, if a core value is simplification and that's all you have, others will just make up what it means. If instead, you have simplification - taking the complicated and making it simple, then everyone will know what you're talking about.

The second issue I see is when people say their aspirational values are core values. For example, you might say a core value is you're a learning organization. If this is not true at least 95% of the time and you still say it's a core value, you'll be seen as a liar, both inside and outside your company. If it's an aspirational value, it's fine to have it as a value, but you must label the aspirational value, an aspirational value.

That's my two cents, and there is a lot more I've written about values over the years.

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Having worked for several companies who have leveraged the concept of 'Core Values' to attempt to guide their overarching behaviors, I do find an interesting gap in the article put forth by Kinesis and Ms. Wittbrodt.

The article clearly states Core Values shouldn't be created in a silo, nor should Core Values be created by committee - both very valid and concepts with merit.

However, where this article fails to bring the concept to fruition is: WHO SHOULD be involved in writing such Core Values? Frankly, the article tells you how Kinesis has been writing them for "decades", but goes no further. So, is this just a sales pitch? Or, are we genuinely being told who should write our Core Values?

It is extremely easy to step back and provide commentary surrounding what shouldn't be done. It's a lot harder to step forward and provide a path towards execution. While the article does elaborate on what should be part of Core Values, it still misses the point on who should be writing them. I would say that would and should be the critical aspect of the creation of Core Values.

Perhaps we all just need to call Kinesis - apparently they are the only ones capable of writing Core Values for an organization.

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