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Theyâre not really values unless you apply them when itâs inconvenient.
â Kim Goodwin
Iâve had the privilege of working with a number of start-up teams as they work through the process of articulating and documenting their shared values.
When we talk about âvaluesâ in this context it is usually shorthand for three different questions that need to be answered:
Mission - why do we exist?
Values - what do we believe?
Vision - what could we be?
Itâs always a humbling, invigorating and heart breaking exercise.
Humbling, because we quickly realise how difficult it is to succinctly describe what always starts out feeling self evident.
Invigorating, because stepping away from the grind of business-as-usual to consider the âwhyâ is usually an excellent way to remind ourselves that the pain is worth the gain.
But perhaps most importantly heart breaking, because we realise how much of what we inevitably begin with when we start putting it down in words is mostly meaningless...
Disrupt. Empower. Enable.
Beautiful. Easy to use. Loved.
Impactful. Purposeful. Positive.
Customer centric. Design led. Fact-based.
Leadership. Collaboration. Innovation.
Integrity. Accountability. Diversity.
Simple. Powerful. World Class.
Here are three questions that I've found can help filter the signal from the noiseâŠ
Who believes the opposite?
First, flip it around and see if it still makes sense.
If we believe that our differentiator is that we will create a product that is beautiful and easy to use, we should think about who we believe is intentionally building something ugly and unnecessarily complicated?
If we say that our customers come first, we need to point to those who genuinely donât care and put them last.
If we say our policy is âdon't be a dickâ (and think that explains it all in as much detail as is required) it's useful to consider the team who are intentionally dicks and what advantages that might give them.
If we canât identify anybody who believes the opposite then we likely havenât identified a useful value or a competitive advantage. We've just uncovered the table stakes.
The opposite of a useful value is often itself a useful value.
(Interestingly, explicitly stating the opposite value often makes the thing that we're actually trying to articulate clearer and easier for others to understand.)
Think about algebra. If we have the same value in the numerator and denominator then they cancel each other out.
XY / Y = X
Itâs not enough to believe in Y. Everybody believes in Y. We need to find the X. That is, the differentiator that sets us apart, makes us memorable and remarkable.
What do we believe that most people don't?
Is this a hope or a method?
Next, ask if what we're describing is a destination or a route.
Everybody thinks senseless meetings waste everybodyâs time. Very few teams find a way to work together that eliminates the need for them.
Everybody says they want to hire a team of people smarter than them. Not many can articulate the specific reasons why those great people will be tempted to join this specific team or have the recruitment process that will attract anything other than a bunch of people who look and behave a lot like the existing team does.
(see: Monochrome)
To usefully articulate what we want to be, we need to go beyond describing the result weâd like. We need to own the process weâll use.
Ultimately our values are not what we write down, they are what we do everyday. Our revealed priorities expose our stated priorities. The way we act trumps the words we say every time1 - e.g. our diet is not something we're "on", it's what we consistently put in our mouths.
Are we changing the world or changing ourselves?
What does this cost?
Whatâs our defining characteristic? Itâs probably also our biggest vulnerability?2
Finally, find the downside and acknowledge it. Document the âhowever...â
We often worry more about appearing not to have problems than about achieving our desired outcomes, and therefore avoid recognising that our own mistakes and/or weaknesses are causing the problems. Understanding our vulnerabilities is much more likely to help us avoid our downfall than listing our strengths.
Maybe weâre relentlessly positive - everything is awesome. And as a result we're probably unlikely to hear negative or potentially constructive feedback because nobody ever wants to be the first one to call the emperor naked.
Maybe weâre loyal. And as a result we hold a grudge, and can be slow to forgive or forget people who have behaved poorly in the past or to acknowledge where past friendships have deteriorated to the point where they would be most usefully abandoned.
Maybe weâre fact-based. And as a result sometimes over analyse and get bogged down in difficult decisions, rather than relying on instinct to make good fast choices when needed.
Again, if we canât quickly identify the downside then we probably havenât found a particularly useful differentiator - because if there is only upside then why wouldnât everybody do the same thing?
If we can articulate what our beliefs will cost us, and accept that we are prepared to bear that cost, then weâve probably found something that is really important and uncommon.
Asking these three questions makes the whole process much harder but ultimately produces better results.
Thatâs worth it, right?
BONUS:
This idea shared by Ryan from Timely is great advice for what to do next, after you've got a first draft of your values:
đ Focus
If you really want to be great at something, you have to truly care about it. If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over it. A lot of people say they want to be great, but theyâre not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness. They have other concerns, whether important or not, and they spread themselves out. Thatâs totally fine. After all, greatness is not for everybody.
â Kobe Bryant 3
Focus is underrated. Maybe thatâs because being super focussed makes you a bit annoying. Annoyingly successful ⊠but still. Frustratingly, it does seem to be a recurring pattern amongst those who achieve remarkable things. The most successful founders I know are the ones who are focussed almost exclusively on their own venture and who are politely uninterested in othersâ ventures.
Focus is difficult. You can be busy or remarkable but not both. You have to choose. Focus means saying no. And, most of us are terrible at saying no.4 The hard thing is deciding what not to do. Then the really hard thing is actually not doing those things.
Focus is exhausting. It always takes longer than you think. Trade Me was 7 years from start to sale. Vend was 12 years.5 Timely was 9Âœ years. Xero took just under 6 years to go from IPO to $1B valuation (those early years are mostly forgotten, definitely seldom mentioned in the official histories, especially when they are written by Australians). Weâre all lucky that most founders donât appreciate this reality in advance, otherwise they might not bother to start at all.6
Focus has a very wide turning circle, which can be soul destroying in the moment. The scarcest resource at most start-ups isnât cash, itâs time.7 Weâve been brought up to believe we can do anything. Itâs a powerful and important message. But, many of us have mistakenly interpreted that to mean we can do everything.
(See: Anything vs Everything).
We want to have our cake, get lots of likes on the photo of our cake, eat it all, and then still have visible ribs afterwards.
Many years ago, when our kids were little, we took a family holiday to Noosa in Queensland, Australia. One day, walking in the National Park, we stopped to watch the surfers in the break below us. The waves were big and seemed to me to be crashing quite close to the rocks, but they made it look effortless and fun.
My wife suggested that we learn to surf.
Then she thought about it a bit more and corrected herself:
Iâd love to be able to surf, but I donât want to have to learn to surf
As always, the question isnât: What can you be great at?
Before you even have that option the question is:
What are you prepared to suck at?
Top Three is a weekly collection of things I notice in 2021. Iâm writing it for myself, and will include a lot of half-formed work-in-progress, but please feel free to follow along and share it if itâs interesting to you.
See "Culture beyond platitudes" in this talk by Ben Horowitz:
Source: The Colourful Principal
Source: Shane Parrish on Twitter
Actually exactly 12 years and 1 day to be precise!
As ever, thanks Rowan. Particularly liked the Paisley Rekdal quote, true whatever your specialty is.