Using Vision and Values to Make Better Decisions
When decisions are made within an organization there can be a variety of things that inform those decisions. Sometimes it can be based on history, competitive forces, internal bureaucracy, and many others. But what successful organizations do better than others is make sure that those who are making the decisions are all in alignment and working toward the same values and vision.
Your business likely has a mission statement and some form of values, whether articulated or perceived. But is everyone in your organization aligned on what those are? Often times there are tribal values that exist that could be different than what you think your business values are.
Does your customer know what your values are? If you asked them, would they be able to say exactly the same thing you do? If not, you may want to sit down and start working on your values.
What does your customer think your brand stands for? This can offer insight into what is most important and provide a basis for you to begin to create values that can be articulated through everyday decisions. The decisions that we make every day will then begin to reinforce the values of the brand resulting in a clearer message to your customers.
Values and vision work within two realms in any organization. You will have the values and vision of the organization created by the CEO or President, then you have the values and vision of each of the individual leaders. Depending on your company one may be stronger than the other or driving one another. The goal is to get them both in alignment.
Let’s assume that your organization has a good set of values and a decent vision. We now need to look at how your leaders are utilizing those tools to craft their own professional values and the vision. Often times I have seen this be the downfall of a department. But remember, if you don’t have clear values and vision at an organization level, it will allow your leaders to wander on their own.
Values are communicated through our actions and our experiences. You feel values, they are emotional. We build them over time based on our experiences. They become our reason for existence and why we work every day. As leaders we communicate these by putting emphasis on certain aspects of our business. When you are impassioned about a certain topic you are telling your team that is what you value. In turn, your team will begin to value that as well because it will help them be successful in your eyes. Many leaders try to eliminate this effect by not showing a bias to any one area of the business. This can have negative effects however. Teams will often see this leader as someone who doesn’t have passion. Leaders without passion typically have a hard time creating a great vision.
Vision is the forward looking execution of our values. As you can imagine, in order to understand what our vision will be, we first need to understand our values. Once we have a grasp on our values we can begin to craft our vision against those values. Vision is typically articulated through forward looking statements or documents. Martin Luther King Jr. had vision, but in the business world rarely are there podiums to proclaim your vision. Instead we will continually be reinforcing the future impacts our decisions can have. This will happen on a daily basis. Individual contributors have their heads down and feet in the trenches. Leaders need to have a point of view on the future implication of these decisions. Hopefully this point of view is based on a vision. As leaders bring ideas up or begin to influence their team in a certain direction it begins to reinforce the vision. Your team will step back and begin to see the bigger picture and understand. Next time they go to make a decision they will have it in the back of their mind.
When leaders have a clear and concise vision it establishes their values and how you expect others to make decisions. Armed with this knowledge, all of your employees will be more empowered to make decisions and you will be more trusting that they are making decisions based on the foundation of your brand.
Wouldn’t that be nice if that was always the case? What happens when we lack values and a weak vision? What if they are not understood by all? Our culture begins to break down. We don’t have a sense of purpose. We start making decisions based on our own values, which definitely don’t support the businesses long term goals. This leads to decisions that result in massive rework loops, lost capital, decreased quality, and worst of all, loss of consumers.
When we make decisions based on our own values and our own vision it drives confusion through the entire organization. Typically you can tell this is the case by looking at how many people are influencing any one person. We will look for input from those that have the power to make the final decision. When those people have differing values and vision we must get input from all to ensure that we are successful. This will ultimately create compromises that could significantly affect the project. Your product will become diluted, which is ultimately felt by the consumer, causing them to lose their emotional connection with your brand.
Decisions are made every day throughout your organizations. Rarely do we step back and understand how those decisions are made and the impacts they could have. The majority of all of this happens sub consciously so we don’t have to think about it. This also allows us to escape it if we don’t pay attention. As with every other aspect of your business, make sure that you understand the impact of your values and vision on a regular basis. Go talk to people around the business and understand how they feel about your values. Sit in on meetings with the view of understanding whether decisions are being made to reflect your values. Make sure your leaders clearly understand what the values and vision are and how they can influence others. When everyone in your organization is making decisions around a solid set of values and clear vision you will be able to build a culture and brand that everyone aspires to have.
Your business likely has a mission statement and some form of values, whether articulated or perceived. But is everyone in your organization aligned on what those are? Often times there are tribal values that exist that could be different than what you think your business values are.
Does your customer know what your values are? If you asked them, would they be able to say exactly the same thing you do? If not, you may want to sit down and start working on your values.
What does your customer think your brand stands for? This can offer insight into what is most important and provide a basis for you to begin to create values that can be articulated through everyday decisions. The decisions that we make every day will then begin to reinforce the values of the brand resulting in a clearer message to your customers.
Values and vision work within two realms in any organization. You will have the values and vision of the organization created by the CEO or President, then you have the values and vision of each of the individual leaders. Depending on your company one may be stronger than the other or driving one another. The goal is to get them both in alignment.
Let’s assume that your organization has a good set of values and a decent vision. We now need to look at how your leaders are utilizing those tools to craft their own professional values and the vision. Often times I have seen this be the downfall of a department. But remember, if you don’t have clear values and vision at an organization level, it will allow your leaders to wander on their own.
Values are communicated through our actions and our experiences. You feel values, they are emotional. We build them over time based on our experiences. They become our reason for existence and why we work every day. As leaders we communicate these by putting emphasis on certain aspects of our business. When you are impassioned about a certain topic you are telling your team that is what you value. In turn, your team will begin to value that as well because it will help them be successful in your eyes. Many leaders try to eliminate this effect by not showing a bias to any one area of the business. This can have negative effects however. Teams will often see this leader as someone who doesn’t have passion. Leaders without passion typically have a hard time creating a great vision.
Vision is the forward looking execution of our values. As you can imagine, in order to understand what our vision will be, we first need to understand our values. Once we have a grasp on our values we can begin to craft our vision against those values. Vision is typically articulated through forward looking statements or documents. Martin Luther King Jr. had vision, but in the business world rarely are there podiums to proclaim your vision. Instead we will continually be reinforcing the future impacts our decisions can have. This will happen on a daily basis. Individual contributors have their heads down and feet in the trenches. Leaders need to have a point of view on the future implication of these decisions. Hopefully this point of view is based on a vision. As leaders bring ideas up or begin to influence their team in a certain direction it begins to reinforce the vision. Your team will step back and begin to see the bigger picture and understand. Next time they go to make a decision they will have it in the back of their mind.
When leaders have a clear and concise vision it establishes their values and how you expect others to make decisions. Armed with this knowledge, all of your employees will be more empowered to make decisions and you will be more trusting that they are making decisions based on the foundation of your brand.
Wouldn’t that be nice if that was always the case? What happens when we lack values and a weak vision? What if they are not understood by all? Our culture begins to break down. We don’t have a sense of purpose. We start making decisions based on our own values, which definitely don’t support the businesses long term goals. This leads to decisions that result in massive rework loops, lost capital, decreased quality, and worst of all, loss of consumers.
When we make decisions based on our own values and our own vision it drives confusion through the entire organization. Typically you can tell this is the case by looking at how many people are influencing any one person. We will look for input from those that have the power to make the final decision. When those people have differing values and vision we must get input from all to ensure that we are successful. This will ultimately create compromises that could significantly affect the project. Your product will become diluted, which is ultimately felt by the consumer, causing them to lose their emotional connection with your brand.
Decisions are made every day throughout your organizations. Rarely do we step back and understand how those decisions are made and the impacts they could have. The majority of all of this happens sub consciously so we don’t have to think about it. This also allows us to escape it if we don’t pay attention. As with every other aspect of your business, make sure that you understand the impact of your values and vision on a regular basis. Go talk to people around the business and understand how they feel about your values. Sit in on meetings with the view of understanding whether decisions are being made to reflect your values. Make sure your leaders clearly understand what the values and vision are and how they can influence others. When everyone in your organization is making decisions around a solid set of values and clear vision you will be able to build a culture and brand that everyone aspires to have.