Changing the World - One Business at a Time
Values as Systems that have Unintended Consequences
Are your lived and professed values the same?
We identify with our values because we think they represent the very best in us. There are, however some unsuspected traps in loving our values unconditionally. First there is the distinction between moral and non-moral values. Moral values have to do with right and wrong, good and evil. Non-moral values are tastes and preferences and do not have the same weight as moral values even though we talk about both using the same language.
If you couple this confusion with what I call the Whim on Iron and the Will of Water you have serious situations that cause real harm. The Whim of Iron is holding a non-moral value as sacrosanct. The Will of Water is holding a moral value as a preference, without commitment. Doing so results in situations like we had in the 60s where families were torn apart when men decided to wear their hair long. In these situations the non-moral value of appearances (held as a Whim of Iron) trumped the moral value of family relationship (held as a Will of Water). Conflicting non-moral values are major contributors to stress.
Now add the fact that certain values come in systems, each with a very different purpose. One system is focused on Protection and contains values like loyalty and vengeance, secrecy and discipline. The other is focused on Effectiveness and contains values like honesty, openness, inventiveness and initiative. Can you see how putting a Protective value in with the Effective values would cause a problem and vice versa?
There’s another aspect that I find when working with corporations. People often “fit in” and feel constrained to do what their boss does, what seems sanctioned in the culture, even if they don’t think it’s right. This is why organizations often profess values in their values statements that they don’t live by. This creates cynicism in employees.
So don’t identify so strongly with those values until you’ve stepped back and really looked to see if your values – your lived values – really represent who you are and what you want to be.
We identify with our values because we think they represent the very best in us. There are, however some unsuspected traps in loving our values unconditionally. First there is the distinction between moral and non-moral values. Moral values have to do with right and wrong, good and evil. Non-moral values are tastes and preferences and do not have the same weight as moral values even though we talk about both using the same language.
If you couple this confusion with what I call the Whim on Iron and the Will of Water you have serious situations that cause real harm. The Whim of Iron is holding a non-moral value as sacrosanct. The Will of Water is holding a moral value as a preference, without commitment. Doing so results in situations like we had in the 60s where families were torn apart when men decided to wear their hair long. In these situations the non-moral value of appearances (held as a Whim of Iron) trumped the moral value of family relationship (held as a Will of Water). Conflicting non-moral values are major contributors to stress.
Now add the fact that certain values come in systems, each with a very different purpose. One system is focused on Protection and contains values like loyalty and vengeance, secrecy and discipline. The other is focused on Effectiveness and contains values like honesty, openness, inventiveness and initiative. Can you see how putting a Protective value in with the Effective values would cause a problem and vice versa?
There’s another aspect that I find when working with corporations. People often “fit in” and feel constrained to do what their boss does, what seems sanctioned in the culture, even if they don’t think it’s right. This is why organizations often profess values in their values statements that they don’t live by. This creates cynicism in employees.
So don’t identify so strongly with those values until you’ve stepped back and really looked to see if your values – your lived values – really represent who you are and what you want to be.
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