Better Software - December 2007 - (Page 29)

guide decisions, not just empty platitudes. They must become things that motivate us, not simply posters in the hallway. They must become an intrinsic part of the corporate culture, not solely a good soundbite for PR material. In order to do this, there must be a construct around the value to turn it into an actionable tenet. The addition of this construct will force people to think through exactly what is meant by the value and the best ways to illustrate it. AES realized this and spent time interpreting its values. It put structure and a context around them. For example, when discussing just what “honor commitment” meant, AES determined that “We honor our commitments to our customers, teammates, communities, owners, suppliers, and partners, and we want our business, on the whole, to make a positive contribution to society.” AES can build upon this construct, defining its goals in accordance with this value. Turning values into actionable tenets can be as straightforward as stating what you believe in and what you will do about it. Using a simple template, like “We believe in , therefore we will ,” allows individuals to consider the behaviors that will result from embracing and acting on the value. Let’s take some common values as an example: stewardship, respect, communication, and quality. As a corporate leader, I would want to have a conversation with my executive team to discuss what we think is meant by each of these values. After doing some brainstorming and visioning exercises (see the sidebar), we arrive at a consensus: • We believe in stewardship, therefore we will act in a manner that respects the environment and the health and safety of others. • We believe in respect, therefore we will treat one another with courtesy and fairness, with conduct that supports the human spirit. • We believe in communication, therefore we will deliver the unvarnished truth in a timely and relevant fashion to our fellow employees, our shareholders, and the community at large. • We believe in quality, therefore we will strive for perfection in all our endeavors as we continue a tradition of providing superior service and a guarantee of satisfaction to all our customers. You can see how we’ve now transformed a word without context into something we can understand, own, and rally around. Now when voices are raised in frustration or anger, any staff member can ask, “Is this in keeping with our value of respect? Is this how we want to behave? Might another behavior be more appropriate?” When the product is found to have a construction flaw, any employee can stop the line and issue an alert so the problem can be corrected and the value of quality ensured. The values, as defined and agreed to by the representatives of the organization, become the glue that guides the company and staff in their decisions and behaviors. VISIONING EXERCISES Consider experimenting with this visioning/core values exercise that Janet Danforth, a certified professional facilitator (CPF), often conducts in her strategic planning sessions for teams and executive management. For best results, have a CPF facilitate this session for you in your organization (see the StickyNotes for a link). Here is an overview of the process: 1. Conduct a visioning exercise that’s tailored to the team for the context/organization in which they’re working. Here’s an example: Ask team members to visualize themselves at a huge awards ceremony where the team is receiving a prestigious honor. (The group should be doing this in silence, each individual creating his own imaginary awards ceremony.) First, the master of ceremonies gives a short speech. What is he saying about the team? Why is the team receiving the award? Then imagine the CEO making a speech. What does she say? Then one of the company’s customers steps up to the mic—what does he say? Then our colleagues go up and speak—what do they say? For each of these vignettes, it’s very important to give people plenty of time to imagine what is happening. 2. Once individuals have had time to think about and write down some of those things they saw in their visions, break into small teams and share. Record thoughts that occurred more than once (i.e., more than one person “heard” the same speech item). Group these items, and then label the groups. 3. Write a goal statement for each labeled group using one of three verbs: promote, provide, or maximize. 4. Share goal statements with other teams, then debrief. Create a mission statement. 5. Based on our discussions of our vision of the future, our goals, and our mission, what are our core values? Use the format “We believe therefore we will ” You don't need too many examples—three to seven is usually sufficient. This part is now easy because of all the work done around the visioning. When Corporate and Personal Values Clash What happens when the values that the individual and the team hold are not congruent with corporate values? Well, that’s a problem with no easy answers. It’s up to each individual to determine how he wishes to proceed. Sometimes an employee can “fly under the radar” and quietly do his job without having to worry about a values clash. After all, as long as the work is getting done as expected, individual employees usually aren’t scrutinized. One wonders how facing the reality about a values mismatch might have affected the lives of some lesser-known white collar criminals, like Richard Causey. Causey was the chief accounting officer at Enron who was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy. Unlike Jeff Skilling and Andrew Fastow, however, Causey made no profits from the accounting scandals at Enron. It was his complicity in the violations that got him into trouble. Perhaps if he had examined his own values more carefully, he would have avoided his fate. In many cases, employees don’t even know what their company’s values are. They can find the mission statement if they hunt the corporate Web site, and www.StickyMinds.com DECEMBER 2007 BETTER SOFTWARE 29 http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - December 2007

Better Software - December 2007 Contents Mark Your Calendar What's Happening @ StickyMinds.com Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles Man and Machine Let Your Values be Your Guide A Story About User Stories and Test-driven Development Product Announcements The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - December 2007

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