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| Write down your values |
The founders of great, enduring organizations like TATA, 3M and Johnson & Johnson often did not have a vision statement when they started out. They usually began with a set of strong personal core values and a relentless drive for progress and most importantly—a remarkable ability to translate these values into solid mechanisms. “If these are our core values and this is fundamentally why we exist, what are the obstacles that get in our way? Defined values give us confidence and will help to have the courage and confidence to make choices. There’s something about actually writing down your values that makes you more committed to living them. When you don’t know or you haven’t clearly defined your values, you end up drifting along in life. Instead of basing your decisions on an internal compass, you make choices based on circumstances and social pressures.
Consider, for example, Granite Rock Company, a small construction-materials outfit that won the Baldrige award in 1992. The company espouses continuous improvement in customer satisfaction.[7] They tell their customers, “If there’s anything about an order you don’t like, simply don’t pay us for it. Deduct that amount from the invoice and send us a check for the balance.” They call it short pay.
Likewise, 3M could simply say, “We don’t get in the way of innovators,” fine. But that’s very different from creating mechanisms—like requiring that 30 percent of revenues be generated by new products—to actually stimulate innovation.
People would examine horse teeth to check whether it was a young horse or an old one. People would check values whether we are actually doing what we talked?
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