Organizational Values Rarely Change, But How They Apply Might

The best organizations in the world share a common feature.

They have a long-standing commitment to a core set of values and principles that guide the enterprise and help it to navigate the many challenges and opportunities inherent in a fast-changing marketplace.

In many cases, these values have stood the test of time over decades and with generations of leaders and teams.

Critics often claim that values and principles that don’t change along with the times will render an organization stodgy, inflexible, and without the ability to adapt. Even values, they say, keep pace with differences in society.

But they miss an important point. Great values don’t need to change as long as how they are applied does.

In his seminal book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins made the case that sustained greatness in companies is rooted in a steadfast adherence to a set of enduring core values.

Collins argued that great companies build a culture of discipline around their values, providing team members with a clear framework from which to operate and make everyday decisions. According to Collins, it matters less what the values are as long as they become emblematic of the culture.

His research uncovered that good-to-great companies fill their ranks with self-disciplined people who are fanatical about upholding the organization's values. They apply these values to everything they do.

This might suggest that values that originated decades ago might have the same influence on the organizational culture throughout time, making the enterprise consistent but unyielding to change. But that isn’t always the case, at least not for dynamic organizations.

Leaders have the option of applying those values differently to meet the challenges and opportunities of the day.

Take, for example, the value of Respect. Several years ago, a leadership team might have applied the value of Respect to the dignity and professionalism shown to team members across the organization.

The manner in which leaders and team members were taught and encouraged to exchange ideas and engage in debate might reflect such dignity and thereby display the value of Respect.

While treating each other with courtesy, dignity, and respect doesn’t go out of vogue, a more contemporary leadership team might apply the value of respect to how to make all team members feel welcome, included, and recognized.

Such an application might place the emphasis more on creating an environment of respect and less on how people interact with one another in meetings. Of course, nothing prevents leaders from applying the value of respect in both ways.

But the point is that how an organization applies and emphasizes a value can shift with the times.

Finding unique and consistent ways to express the organization’s values is up to leaders. Their creativity and focus are bounded not by time but by utility.

While some expressions will maintain over the life course of an enterprise, others will change to meet the contemporary needs of the organization. In that way, core values stay central, but how they show up may take a new turn now and again.