Operationalize Organizational Values

Organizational value statements are an unreliable predictor of culture. The actual culture is revealed in day to day operations and behaviors. Are your meeting norms, promotional policies or the quality of feedback in alignment with an experience that bolsters employee retention or attrition? Are you unwittingly driving or stagnating innovation?

From Abstract Values to Observable Operating Standards

Every organization has a culture. The reality is that very few have systems calibrated to align culture with values. The question every leader should ask is whether culture is working for or against values and goals.

Consider an organization that proclaims innovation as a strategic goal. In practice, the meeting structure rewards the loudest voice, or the promotion criteria favor risk avoidance. The result is a team living in the safe space of silence and conformity regardless of the value statement. Both behaviors are killers of innovation.

According to a 2023 Gallup report, teams with clearly defined expectations and consistently reinforced norms show significantly higher performance and engagement than those relying on informal agreements.

High-performing cultures can’t coexist in an environment on autopilot, where teams operate in default mode.

Using our Culture Alignment Blueprint, we help leaders achieve a higher level of conscious deliberation where if practiced consistently, becomes the default. We start with a structured Team Assessment.

Culture left undefined, leaves teams to fill the void with their own assumptions. We remove that ambiguity through facilitated discussion. As shown in the Sample Team Assessment, where a core value is "Innovation." We help teams define the specific behaviors required to succeed in their environment and establish a new standard.