Values Proposition
A deeper understanding of values profoundly impacts success.
Most people are familiar with a value proposition. It is the understanding that an individual or business has the ability to fulfill their promise. This could be a product, a service, an outcome, or other tangible that has a proposal of value with an expectation of delivery.
All business and personal relationships have an element of a value proposition. In personal relationships we make conscious, and unconscious, decisions that the people we choose to surround ourselves with will contribute in a beneficial way to our well being. In business there are value propositions in every aspect from executive and management to operations and sales. The most powerful place this idea comes into play is in choosing the people that work with us. In partnerships, employees, contractors, and any other situation that we have to determine the worth of an individual and their impact on our business, this is the key element in determining the success of the relationship. It is also one of the most misunderstood, intangible, and challenging decisions we make.
In a value proposition for a sales target, there are clearly defined goals; with methods and strategy to achieve those goals. You can clearly assess the tools that are available, the risk, and the chance of success. You can review similar tasks and compare their success to your own opportunity. You can open the spreadsheet and see in absolute terms the entirety of the task. Unfortunately, despite the Herculean efforts of HR, personality and psychological profiles, and many, many software algorithms and matching systems, we don’t have a good spreadsheet for people.
A resume or biography can tell you what a person has accomplished. It can provide some context for the position or situation they were in when they did it. It can show you successes or failures in relation to their peers. And it can, to some extent, show how they may fit into your structure. Testimonials can provide perspective, with connections giving their view of the person and how they fit in. Personnel files can give insight into performance and abilities. Recommendations can support the overall picture of how the person contributed to their team. But…
None of these can tell you why a person makes the choices they do. None of these can tell you why they sacrificed time, money, and family to achieve a goal. None of these can tell you why they chose one tactic over another. None of these can tell you why they would work with one person, and avoid another. None of these can tell you the moral, ethical and belief structures that governs their why. Nor what has the potential to change these structures, for better or worse.
The only real way to gauge values is to watch what they do. Watching what they do, how they interact, and seeing the choices they make in context with your own frame of reference. Truly listen. Listen not only to what they’re saying, but also pay attention to what the underlying meaning is, what the subtext is, what they are telling you beyond the words they use. It really comes down to placing our trust in someone else. Difficult at the best of times. And more than just trust, but our granting of belief in the person’s trustworthiness.
A friend described the understanding of values like an iceberg. What you see above the waterline is maybe 10% of what is there. The 10% is what everyone can see, what most people understand, and what determines how they interact with it. The 90% is actually what determines what it is, how it moves, and how it impacts the world around it. People are the same. What we see of other people is the 10%. It’s the percent that they want us to see. The crafted, scripted, edited version of a person that we accept as true. The reality is that the 90% underneath is what directs what the person does, who they are, and why they are. It is the 90% that determines the quality of how people interact, work, and play, often with no conscious understanding of the interaction that is happening under the waterline. It is the 90% that allows for real, effective, long term viable partnerships and relationships, and sometimes when an iceberg sinks our ships, it’s because we didn’t see what was below the surface.
Most people live in a world where we perceive the surface, only seeing the top of the iceberg, and never even making the effort to discover what lies beneath. Part of that discovery is not only looking beneath the surface, but also being willing to let other people come to know what lies at your core as well. Sharing and discovering the depth of a person is one of the greatest joys and most powerful experiences we can have, in personal or business connections.
How do I gauge values? Instinct, experience, and attention. I am conscious and aware of the way that people interact with me and those around me. I have succeeded and failed at trusting others. The more that I place my trust in others, using the skills and knowledge that I have, the better I get at understanding the strengths and limitations of my own abilities and trustworthiness. The more that I use my instinct, experience, and attention, the more honed and intuitive they become.
I also find it challenging to communicate my own values to others in the reverse, when someone is reviewing me for a partnership, project, or relationship. Because of the situations I have been through, and the challenges I have survived, I know exactly where my lines are drawn, and what those lines are worth. I have learned in the very hardest of ways my own errors and limitations. And I have a very clear knowledge of my personal ethical and moral perspective, and the power of the values I choose to live by and with. I know that if I make the mistake of building a relationship with another person or business that doesn’t share my values, I have failed before I start.
Learning to better communicate these values, beyond the words I use, is something I put into practice every day. It requires an understanding that every choice, every decision, and every interaction has an impact on those that I will connect with in the future. It is a hugely effective way to ensure that I am examining how my choices fit in my own structure of standards, and how those standards change, adapt, and grow from my experiences.
The real values proposition is in discovering the true nature, underlying principles, and motivation that drives people. It is not the alignment of outcome that determines longevity. In any venture, or relationship, it is the alignment of values that determines success.
Ben Beveridge
VP, Business Development
Archer Business Development Solutions
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ben@archerbds.com
