The integrating Roles of Corporate Values and Vision
...gy and operating practices to support its core values and purpose to achieve sustainable high performance. A company must share its purpose and values, “the set of principles by which people agree to work together” to create a culture that sets a direction for the team. The way a company translates values into culture is called the “Value Development Cycle” . It all starts by sharing these values with the people making the work. In order for people to share these values they need to be communicated effectively. This means that people need to be moved from a position of ignorance to a position were they become active and supportive players. Once people understands and is motivated by these “way of doing things” they develop attitudes, meaning that they develop beliefs and feelings and disposition to act according to the defined set of values. When these attitudes are executed they become behaviors and people start acting accordingly. Then, once everybody in the organization is behaving the same way, we have a culture where everybody shares the same values. This is a never-ending journey of discipline where to maintain these values they need to be constantly reinforced. The picture below illustrates how these values connect with people within the organization. First, the company describes the values. Secondly, communicates the values. Finally, these values transform into attitudes that are reinforced until they become behaviors and eventually a culture. “The point is to build an organization that fervently preserves its core ideology in specific, concrete ways.” The visionary companies analyzed by Collins and Porras have one thing in common: they all started with a clear idea of what kind of company they wanted to be. “Their greatest creation is the company itself and what it stands for.” They created an ideology and were able to create processes that would yield over time, that have the capacity of succeed through many product cycles and under successive leaders and that consistently aligned with that core ideology. However, a core ideology itself is not capable of creating a successful company. In today’s world, the ability of a company to adapt to different and constantly changing conditions is a “must” if the company wants to succeed. This brings us to a key insight of Built to Last: knowing what to change and what not to. “Preserve the core and stimulate progress, that’s the essence of a visionary company.” Even though the core ideology is enduring, strategy must change to improve and to translate that core ideology into businesses. Collins and Porras have created a framework that brings technology management into the game to drive the progress. These specific methods fall into five categories: 1. Big Hairy Audacious Goals 2. Cult-Like Cultures 3. Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works 4. Home Grown Management 5. Good Enough Never is In general, these five elements translate into the following: 1. A company need to set goals. These goals have to be ambitious and audacious. 2. Build a ...