How to Reengineer the Corporate Vision & Values

Let me just come right out and say it.  I love the idea of a business that is inspired by an irresistible and worthy vision, that lives out a set of compelling, wholesome values and that is governed by a powerful customer centric philosophy.  And call me naïve if you like, but, I believe that businesses work best for all their stakeholders and are at their most sustainable when set up in this manner.  What is somewhat startling but also very reassuring is that the writers of pretty much all the leading business/management development literature over the last 40 years seem to agree with me too.  These researchers and authors also think it’s a great way to run a business.  Well that’s all fabulous news then – but there’s a hitch – this is not what I see in reality. 

So why (according to their customers and staff) are so few businesses operating in this manner?   In this blog I’ll be drawing on my 25 years of consulting experience to offer a rationale for why the quixotic dream of creating a powerful, uplifting and inspiring vision and value set so often evaporates in practice to be replaced with the energy sapping corporate flannel and mealy-mouthed doublespeak that is the daily diet of most employees.

Now before we all jump to conclusions and belabour the shortcomings of our corporate leaders I’d like to suggest that in order to deliver the kind of organisations we crave we have to be honest about the organisations we have and the visions and values that actually drive employee behaviours and customer outcomes.

The common mistake when looking to reenergise an organisation with a new vision and values is to assume that the organisation does not already possess a very powerful raison d’etre and a dominant set of pervasive values.   They do.  The thing is that these incumbent elements are not usually the ones that have been developed as part of an executive away day and published in the annual report.   They are the “shadow” vision and values.  These shadows have real teeth and are the real behavioural drivers behind most of our organizational lives.  They are not written down and are most often illuminated on the drawing boards of the corporate satirists.  They are almost universal and are rewarded and encouraged in almost all organisations.  So, to be able to put in place the compelling vision and values we all want to see, we first have to shed light on the shadow vision and the shadow values, expose them for what they are and embrace them or change them where appropriate.

So let me deal first with the “shadow” vision.  The shadow vision is pretty much the same for all organisations and it is really simple.  It is as follows: “Make more money for the shareholders each month/quarter”.  Not surprising is it, nor is It complicated or difficult to understand.  How do I know it’s the real vision for the organization?  Simple - It is the subject that is discussed for the vast majority of the time in the vast majority of Boardrooms up and down the country.  It gets massively more executive airtime than customers, employees or any other corporate element and it is the subject of the greatest number of Board reports.   It’s also what executive reward packages are usually linked to.  Now leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the shadow vision, the failure to recognize it as the real vision of the organization is likely to create all manner of organizational inefficiencies.  Misguided employees will occasionally try and act in line with the “published” vision statements that often encourage innovation, courage, customer centricity etc and this will cause corporate chaos.   So to drive out the inefficiencies related to having two potentially misaligned visions (shadow and published) the organization needs to either be honest and declare the shadow vision to be the “published” vision or it needs to tackle the shadow vision and reengineer the workings of the business to better line up with the elements of a compelling “published” vision.

So let’s move onto the “shadow” values.   There are four main “shadow” values (although you can always find others) and they are well suited to supporting the “shadow” vision.  Again they are pretty universal in larger organistions and represent the concepts and behaviours that are truly valued by the organisation.   They are as follows:

1. Profit – This organisation values profit and encourages all its employees to make decisions and take actions that deliver the greatest level of profit this month/quarter
2. Predictability – This organisation values predictability and encourages all its employees to only make decisions and take actions that are in line with what was expected of them and previously forecast
3. Prudence – This organisation values prudence and encourages all its employees to make decisions and take actions that require no extra investment of resource and carry no risks that may adversely affect the delivery of predictable outcomes.
4. Propriety – This organisation values propriety and encourages all of its employees not to challenge the status quo and established ways of working as it can cause corporate embarrassment or attract adverse PR.  It particularly encourages all employees to ensure there is executive plausible deniability for any “off piste” actions they may wish to take in pursuance of the corporate vision

Again, leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the “shadow” values the fact is, that from observing the behaviours of employees in large organisations over the last 25 years, one has to conclude that they exist and are well supported by the corporate performance management systems.  They are also highly likely to be at odds with the “published” values.  So again, as with the shadow vision if we are to reduce inefficiency and direct our employees far more clearly then we have to admit they exist and either embrace them or reengineer the organization to support the delivery of different values.  Either way I’d like to make a plea that organisations stop confusing their employees by publishing values and visions that are not aligned to the behaviours that they would really like to see as it really cheeses me off.  

And before you right me off as a tree-hugging lunatic, I for one would be delighted to see “profit” as a value for most organisations.  Let’s put it out there and be honest – we value profit.  There I said it.  Now let’s work out what else we value.

To conclude, if you want your programme of re-envisioning the organisation and overhauling the corporate values to go well you will need to identify and deal with the shadow vision and values with as much passion and rigour as you employ to generate the new vision and values.  To fail to do this is to doom the programme to failure.  It’s the equivalent of putting on your finest designer suit or dress, all ready for a glamorous evening out, over the top of your gardening clothes.   Not a good look and a bit mad.