Strong Values & Clear Definitions that Fell Flat

As an organization, Enron had indeed identified their values:

Respect: We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful treatment. Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance don't belong here.

Integrity: We work with customers and prospects openly, honestly and sincerely. When we say we will do something, we will do it; when we say we cannot or will not do something, then we won't do it.

Communication: We have an obligation to communicate. Here, we take the time to talk with one another…and to listen. We believe that information is meant to move and that information moves people.

Excellence: We are satisfied with nothing less than the very best in everything we do. We will continue to raise the bar for everyone. The great fun here will be for all of us to discover just how good we can really be.

I pulled this list from Enron’s “Statement of Human Rights Principles” as shared on Sacramento State University’s website… 

Now, think back to the statement made by Supervisory Special Agent Michael E. Anderson: “Enron was a company where it was OK to lie; it was OK to cheat as long as you were making money for the company.”

Cindy and I have initially shared a lesson with our Executive Leadership Elite Think Tank, then built that lesson into a half day workshop for several of the organizations represented in that group, where we mention just the values: respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. We challenged the individuals in each group to detail what they thought of when they heard those words. While definitions varied some, they weren’t terribly far off from what you see from Enron above. Quite frankly, those are some of the clearest and best stated values I’ve seen. Somewhere along the line, though, that train ran off the tracks! When we share the name of the organization those values came from, nearly everyone’s chin dropped.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for even the strongest values with the clearest definitions to be detailed in a handbook and painted on the walls of the organization while even some of the most senior supervisors and managers struggle to list them. We recently opened a session with a group by asking for volunteering to share their values. While a few offered some ideas off the top of their head, no one could list any of the company’s actual core values - and those values were printed on the wall in the room…

Make no mistake, I’m not placing blame on anyone in that group. All too often, we’re caught up in the urgency of the day-to-day and lose sight of the clear purpose that should be driving us and the values that define who we are as an organization. While our team may be mostly dialed in, we cannot allow room for the definitions of those values to drift. And they absolutely will if we’re not talking about them in detail, constantly, so we’ll work through that soon. First, though, we need to understand just how easy it can be for any one of us to drift, ever so slightly, away from even the most clearly defined values…