THREE
Values—A Firm Foundation
Values are the infrastructure or highway system we travel on to reach our goal.
If my family and I were taking a road trip to Disneyland from our home in Utah, we would have two choices. We could pull out of our driveway, point our car southwest, and begin to drive through neighbors’ dining rooms and yards, through cow pastures and weeds, across streams, and over mountain ranges until we got to sunny Southern California. The other choice would be to do an Internet search for the best route to Disneyland, and then print out and follow the directions that are given. I suppose option one would get us there eventually, if I had access to an amphibious assault vehicle—and if we could avoid arrest. But I think my family and I would enjoy the trip more if we followed the interstate—and exited the freeway once in a while for gas, a bite to eat, and a chance to freshen up.
Just as there are roads my family is willing to take and others we’d rather avoid, there are ways of living life and doing business that I am willing to try and others I steer clear of. For me, I love to drive on paved streets because I know my wife’s minivan will get stuck in the mud if I head off across uncharted terrain. And, like a good map, my values keep me on the right roads.
Any organization that is going to be successful—whether it is a family, a sports team, or a business—must have a set of values to work from; otherwise, it will end up wandering into the weeds. When I say values, I’m not necessarily referring just to moral values. Values go well beyond what we may typically think of when we hear that word. They are the infrastructure you are going to use as you build toward your goal. Values include the behavior you are going to exhibit, the culture you want to create, and the rules you will follow. Values set the tone for what the culture in the company will be. Following or ignoring values creates the stories that then reinforce the culture we are building. Different families have different values, just as different businesses have different values. As an example, let’s suppose you want to start a high-class restaurant with inventive food and a romantic environment. In this restaurant, you would value using fresh ingredients and having a meticulously clean kitchen. Quality, refinement, and culture might be some of the values you would promote among your staff and with your customers (whom you might refer to as patrons). On the other hand, if you were looking to open a family-friendly, fast-food restaurant, you would value speed, efficiency, variety, and the entertainment of kids. Ideally, you would value cleanliness as well. You are not going to use the same high-quality ingredients as your gourmet counterpart, and you might have far more options on the menu, including a kids’ menu. Identifying your values, based on your purposes and objectives, is essential so you can clearly define where you’re headed with your venture.
Although I do believe in right and wrong, it’s important to initially assess your values without judgment. Different businesses must have different cultures and, therefore, values. A collections company that provides a service of calling people and demanding that they pay their bills will value employees who are assertive and who will not back down. The employees would generally value justice more than mercy. They would need to value responsibility and accountability. The employer might value being fair, but would define fair in terms of all the parties, with a bias toward the entity that is owed the money.
On the other hand, a company in the business of entertaining people would not flourish if it based its business on the same values as the collections agency. Typically, it would value fun, entertainment, preparation, and social interaction—those values that help ensure that everyone who walks in the door has fun.
It would not make sense for the entertainment company to say, “We are an entertainment company that is fair in our judgments.” Likewise, you’re not going to hear the collections agency say, “We value bringing joy and laughter to our patrons.” Different businesses, different values.
I attended a very interesting lecture once where the speaker asked a group of chiropractors the following question: “Are you a healer? Are you a doctor? Or are you a businessperson?” There was a long and awkward pause, and then he continued, “Your response to this question is going to determine how you will set up and conduct your practice.” The speaker wasn’t suggesting there was a right or a wrong answer; he was saying that the answer would lead each of these chiropractors in a slightly different direction, so they ought to give it careful consideration.
Picture how the “healer” might set up his practice. He would be much more holistic in his approach, focusing on preventative care and wellness. In addition to his services, he might recommend and provide certain supplements and vitamins. He would likely encourage exercise and proper diets. He would certainly teach his patients proper techniques to avoid injury. His values would likely lead him to spend more time with each patient, which he’d need to consider as he mapped out his billing practices. He might spend more time with each customer and may or may not be as profitable.
The chiropractor who sees herself primarily as a doctor is likely more traditional and focuses on getting her patients’ spines back into alignment. As such, her need for staff, office space, and billing policies are going to be quite different from the healer. Finally, the “businessperson” would have a dramatically different approach to his practice. He might not even do the day-to-day adjustments, opting instead to have a group of chiropractors work for him. He will be more focused on the production and efficiency of the practice. While these chiropractors’ values may differ somewhat, what is clear is that their values are going to provide a road map that guides everything from selecting office space to determining rates to the actual care of the patients.
You can certainly head down the road not really knowing what your values are, but it’s never going to get you anywhere good. For many years, my favorite college football team had an incredible coach. He was revered by fans, players, and coaches across the country. He coached the same team for almost three decades and won countless awards, including a national championship. He valued hiring great assistant coaches; and while there was no mistaking who was in charge, he was a delegator. When he took over his team as head coach, he could see it would never compete well with a running strategy, so he decided he would find quarterbacks who valued passing the ball. He faced teams that could score 20 or 30 points running the ball, but his team could score 40 or 50 by passing. So, they won. Several of his quarterbacks went on to play in the NFL, and more than one took his team to the Super Bowl.
He believed in his coaches, in his players, and in his strategy. On game day, he stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, completely nonemotional as he calmly kept pace with his team from the sideline. If his team won, his expression was the same as those rare times that they lost.
After this coach retired, a coach came in who didn’t seem to know what he valued. His offensive strategy seemed to change from week to week. He would start a quarterback, pull him out, and then try another quarterback. At times, he let his assistant coaches do their jobs, and other times he would take over—sometimes in the middle of a game. When a game was close, he would run up and down the sideline, waving his arms frantically over what was happening. Players and coaches alike didn’t know what he expected of them; and, as a fan, it was confusing to watch the team during this time. No one seemed to know what he valued, and, as a result, it wasn’t long before he was fired. Since leaving the university, he returned to the ranks of assistant coaches where he has had success, but no one has been willing to offer him a job as the head coach.
The most recent coach of this storied team is almost the exact opposite of the legendary coach. He is much more hands-on, to the point where he has functioned as both head coach and defensive coordinator. He is much more emotional. He is much more involved in the community, and expects his players to be as well. And yet, with all the differences, he is enjoying a winning record that rivals that of the man this school’s football stadium is named after. The first coach and the current coach have succeeded with different values systems, but they each have one. And those values were and are crystal clear to each of the players and each member of the staff.
Whether you are deciding for yourself, your family, or your business, the values you settle on will determine your behavior, which will in turn determine what stories will be told about you. These stories will then serve to guide the behavior of those who follow you.
One of my heroes and mentors was a businessman named Ray Noorda. Ray was the CEO of Novell when I worked there, and he guided the company through its “glory days.” During his time as CEO, everybody knew very clearly what the values of Novell were. Financial responsibility was at the top of the list. Next was to be on the leading edge of technology. Another was to take good care of customers.
We had a series of mantras that were propagated throughout the company. These were little statements that Ray was famous for, such as, “Resist change and die, adapt to change and survive, create change and thrive.” Another was, “Customers first, employees second, shareholders third.” One of his statements that used to spread fear throughout the company was, “Spring cleaning whether we need it or not.” All of us knew that every spring the bottom 10 percent of performers would be laid off. Ray did not like having dead wood in the company. He felt it was an honor to work at Novell; and if people were not performing, he did not want them to weigh the company down. Not everyone agreed with his values, but these are examples of the culture that Ray created for Novell.
Most of us who worked for Ray considered him to be something of a tightwad. Whether that is a fair assessment or not, he was definitely fiscally responsible. Although he was a billionaire, Ray did not have a fancy office; in fact, he had the same standard issue desk and chairs as everyone else. When he traveled, he flew coach to save the company money. He did not wear expensive suits. He drove an old 1972 King Cab pickup truck.
Not surprisingly, he loved to walk around the company and meet people. He would stay after hours and talk with the custodians. It was not uncommon for him to come sit on your desk and ask if you had anything good to eat. He would talk to every level of employee. As a result, he knew exactly what was happening in the company.
At one point, we had an executive who made it a point to let others know he had money, and one day he came to work with a shiny new Rolex watch. This employee had failed to take note of the values and culture of the company. Not surprisingly, he was one of those who ended up getting cleaned out the next spring. That became one of the many stories that got passed through the company, which reinforced the values Ray used to guide Novell.
One time I personally witnessed one of Ray’s stories, and I did my part to pass it along. I was in the restroom when Ray walked in. There was another man in there who was combing his hair and who kept the water on the entire time he was grooming himself. He would leave the water running while he went to check himself in the mirror. Then he’d come back for a bit more water, and then head to the mirror again. When Ray came in and saw what was going on, he turned the water off. The guy went back and turned it back on—and then gave Ray a dirty look. As the guy turned away from the water, Ray shut it off again. It was obvious this guy had no idea who he was dealing with. After the third time, Ray wagged his finger in this man’s face and said, “Waste not, want not.” I am not sure what happened to the offender. But I know that I was sure quivering and that the value of not being wasteful was ingrained deep within me that day. These were the stories that would spread like wildfire through the company. They taught the values and created the culture of how everyone in the company was expected to behave.