Posts Tagged ‘Values’

Thrive Together

Posted: May 10, 2013 in Collaboration
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thriveThis is the last in a five-part series covering the five corporate values of my company, Humana:

Today’s subject: Thrive Together.  What does that mean and how can we live that value?

If we consider the word “thrive,” it brings to mind definitions such as growing, prospering, making progress, and flourishing.  It’s more than just maintaining one’s current state.  It is reaching one’s potential – the fullness of one’s capacity.  It suggests that such growth and prosperity happens in an environment that nourishes and allows room for growth, one that does not unnecessarily and unnaturally constrict such progress.

Most of us hope to thrive in many areas of our lives.  By combining the word thrive with the word together, however, the picture shifts from individuals focused on their own prosperity to one in which the whole group moves in a united direction for the good of all.  It is not a select few doing what is in their own self-interest; it is working in tandem with others in mutually beneficial ways to accomplish more together than we can separately.

To quote a small booklet from my company, to thrive together means that “we focus on shared success by breaking down silos, inviting collaboration and mentoring others.  We believe in, and act with, positive intention to create an environment of trust and integrity.”

So where do I fit in this picture?

It is vital that my personal way of working with others daily needs to include being trustworthy and demonstrating integrity.  I can’t just talk about a value; I have to model it.  I need to reach out to others to include them in decision-making, as well as be responsive to them when they reach out to me.  I must collaborate and cooperate with others willingly because I understand that each person involved has something important he/she brings to the table to help accomplish our business objectives.  I can’t horde areas of responsibility and lord over them like a king in a castle.  Even “my” role at the company isn’t truly “mine.”  It is the company’s and I am a temporary steward of that role and its responsibilities, beholden to the company to do what is in the best interests of the organization and not my own self-interests.

Fortunately, I am in a perfect role at work to help foster the breaking down of silos and building in their place a culture of communication, collaboration and cooperation through my role as the community manager of our enterprise social network.  Thriving together requires open, continuous, honest, and transparent communication.  There is no better way of facilitating that among our company’s associates than through our enterprise social platform.  That is the place where everyone is equal, where everyone’s voice can be heard, where anyone can strike up a conversation with anyone else at any level of the organization at any time about any subject.  That is the place where issues can be addressed, problems and roadblocks called out, model behavior praised, questions asked and answered, and business solutions crafted from thoughtful conversation held by engaged associates throughout the company.  As of our latest upgrade last week of the Socialcast software we use, it is even the place where projects can now be planned, managed, tracked, discussed and documented by the teams involved.  I stated at a conference in 2010 that my goal for our enterprise social network was to change the way communication happens at our company, and three years after the launch of that platform (to the very day today, May 10), we have made much progress in that direction.

I have worked with enough people personally at my company over nearly ten years to be absolutely convinced that the vast majority are dedicated, thoughtful, caring, hard-working people who want to do the right thing in the right way.  Sure, I’ve run into some that don’t fit that description and some who seem to be more concerned with thriving individually than thriving together, but they are the exceptions rather than the rule.  So I believe it is possible that we can live out this value of Thrive Together successfully in the years ahead, especially given the current example and focus of leadership.

Most people eagerly mimic the positive examples of their leaders and others they admire.  When top leaders model such values on a daily basis, the values become more than buzzwords.  Being value-focused can and should become a way of life that shapes our company’s future.  It requires moving from the awkward beginning of talking about values and learning about them to actually living them naturally because they become a part of who you are personally and corporately.  That takes time, but it can and will happen.  It requires that the values be broadly understood and accepted, not just handed down from above.  It requires regularly interjecting into discussions simple reminder questions like “How does this fit with our value of …?” so that we stay on track to make good values-based decisions.

I’m proud of the direction of my company.  I’m thankful for our excellent top leadership and for the countless great colleagues I have the pleasure to work with every day.  I’m genuinely excited about the significance of our focus on these five values and what they will mean to our culture over time – not just internally as employees but in the impact on the consumers we serve and the shareholders to whom we are accountable.

We can and we will Thrive Together.  It will take intentional, constant effort, but it will be worth it.

Pioneer Simplicity

Posted: May 9, 2013 in Simplicity
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SimplicityWe’re nearing the end of this five-part series covering the five corporate values of my company, Humana.  Those values, again, are:

I’ve also written about the helpfulness of using these values in decision making.

With five excellent, simply stated values such as these, it’s hard to have a favorite, but today’s subject of Pioneer Simplicity may be my favorite of the bunch.  Why is that?  Why is this value important?  How can I model it and encourage it in others?

At a personal level, I’m a fairly simple guy.  I live in my modest 70-year-old Cape Cod home that I would happily empty of half its contents.  I drive a 12-year-old car that I will drive until it has no more miles left in it for anyone to drive.  I try to live out my core values of faith, family, hard work, integrity and kindness daily.  I’m planning to cut my hair back to a buzz cut or shaved completely soon because I’m tired of messing with it.  My happiest trash pickup days are the ones where I’ve cleared out more clutter from the home or garage that we haven’t needed or used in years.  One or two weeks a year I book a room at a monastery for an extended period of reading, silence, solitude, rest, reflection, study and renewal.

I am perfectly happy having a few slices of bread and butter or peanut butter and crackers for dinner.  I like my personal spaces at home, work or on the drive between the two to be clean and orderly.  I want no drama queens or kings complicating my daily existence.  I subscribe to the most basic cable service available for $15 a month that gets me 24 channels.  You will rarely catch me spending $4-5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks (which should have been named “Five Bucks”) because I prefer my hot tea with honey in the morning, water in the afternoon, and my nightly luxury of one soft drink. I have an extremely low tolerance level for institutions, organizations and processes that are unnecessarily complex and time-consuming.  Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!

So when I consider the value Pioneer Simplicity, it resonates with me personally.  Still, I know that there is more I can do to model this value in my personal life.  I could still have far fewer things.  I could be less dependent on technology.  I could choose not to fill every waking hour of the day with things to do from my unending task list.

Professionally, my perception of this value is shaped greatly by the fact that my company is a large, Fortune 100 company, over 50 years old, in a highly-regulated industry, with about 45,000 employees scattered all across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.  It is probably inevitable that as companies grow, they get more complicated.  Processes get new steps tacked on to the simpler steps that accomplished them before.  New concerns and fears spawn new steps, processes, approvals, policies, restrictions and the corresponding frustrations that go with them.  But is all of that really necessary and beneficial?  I doubt it.

Old ways of thinking and those who harbor them tend to hang on for dear life when challenged by newcomers, outsiders and others more concerned with getting things done than with getting things done in a certain way.  Turf wars linger.  Silos emerge.  Barriers get erected that stifle creativity, innovation, ingenuity and fluidity.  If companies aren’t careful, they eventually morph into complicated, bureaucratic, hierarchical, controlling entities more concerned with protecting tradition and process than they are with accomplishing their business objectives in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

That’s why it is a beautiful thing to stop in the midst of a convoluted, complicated process and ask, “How does this pioneer simplicity?  What can we do to simplify this for ourselves as employees and for our customers to improve their experience?”  We need to develop the habit of asking these questions in conversations and meetings before bad, complicated processes get written in stone.  Let’s start thinking of radically simple ways of doing what we are charged with doing.

Take corporate policies, for instance.  How many internal policies are so detailed that it would take one’s full-time effort just to be aware of the details we are supposedly adhering to, much less to actually abide by them?  By attempting to imagine every scenario and respond via policy update to every unfortunate situation that occurs, we try to take simple human thought and accountability out of daily decision making, thereby dehumanizing the environment and constricting creativity.  This is an area where I’d like to know how many pages of policies we actually have on file, and then mandate that they all be simplified to no more than 1/10th their current size, maybe no more than one page each.  If you can’t explain something to me simply in a way I can grasp it, that’s your problem, not mine.

What about the processes we follow by choice or my mandate?  What would happen if individuals and departments selected just one process that they believe to be too complicated or time-consuming, and worked on simplifying it?  Do all of those approvals really have to happen in that order over that time frame via that method, or can we empower the people we have hired to make decisions to do things in the manner they deem best within, of course, the confines of state and federal regulatory requirements?  Similarly, do we have to lock down our technology devices to such a degree that many employees have better tools and software at home to work with than they have at work?

I don’t know what processes and policies contradict the value of simplicity for other areas of our company, but you can rightly deduce from the above examples that the ones that most often cause our team to bang our heads against the wall are related to restrictive policies, time-consuming approval processes, and efforts to control technology to the point of keeping us from doing our jobs efficiently and effectively.  We still find ways to get things done and to do them well, but there is room for improvement.  Your experience may be very different.

As we consider this value, let’s not forget the verb in the phase Pioneer Simplicity.  The word pioneer brings to mind those daring people of old who didn’t wait for others to lead.  They took off in directions uncharted because they believed in the value of the adventure and the potential of what that exploration might yield.  With or without others, they weren’t afraid to try something new.  They faced the danger.  They left behind the familiar.  Perhaps they suffered some along the way, but in the end, our world is a better place because of their efforts.

There is an elegance and beauty in simplicity.  For ourselves personally and professionally, we really should try it more often.

Pioneer simplicity.

Rethink Routine

Posted: May 8, 2013 in Change
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Line Of CattleThis post is the third is a five-part series covering the five corporate values of my company, Humana.  As a reminder, the values are:

I’ve also written about the helpfulness of using these values in decision making.

Today’s subject: Rethink Routine – what does it mean to live out this value personally and professionally?  What are some challenges in doing so?

Most of us are creatures of habit.  When we find something that works for us, we tend to stay with it.  We have our favorite places to eat and our favorite meals at those places.  We purchase our preferred brands of clothing while stocking our kitchens, garages, closets and bookshelves with the familiar.  We drive the same path to work.  We go to the same places for fun over and over.  We carry out the same routines in our schedule from when we get up to the order in which we get ready for work in the morning to where we relax in our favorite places before going to sleep on the same side of the bed facing the same direction every night.

For those of us who are largely task-oriented, driven by checking things off our to-do lists, it can be difficult letting go of well-worn paths for the uncertainty of new trails.  An image from my years growing up on a farm comes to mind here – the image of a line of cattle following a beaten, narrow path of dirt to their destination when wide open acres of green pasture are all around them.

At work the story is no different.  We follow processes and procedures whose origins and reasons for being we can’t begin to explain.  We can’t explain them because we’ve probably never openly questioned or challenged them.  Consequently, we allow ourselves to be boxed in and hindered by ineffective, inefficient, time-consuming, costly and ultimately unjustifiable processes and routines that keep the business from moving forward at the speed of life necessary to have a competitive advantage.

Whether at home, living in our communities, or at work, we are creatures of habit and breaking those routines is not easy.  Of course, it isn’t necessary to change every routine in our lives just for the sake of change.  Not all change turns out well.  However, we must encourage the thinking and creativity that asks, “Is there a better way to do this?”

A few decades ago I worked in a bookstore and I recall seeing a book title that I thought was brilliant.  It has stayed with me for 30+ years.  The title was The Seven Last Words of the Church: We’ve Never Tried It That Way Before.  If I was to write a book for businesses today, the title might just change the word “church” to “business.”  How many times have you heard some variation of the statement “We’ve never done it that way before?”  Have you said it or thought it yourself when presented with new ideas from others?  You probably have.  I know I have, although I try to catch the words before they roll off my tongue.  New ideas are not necessarily bad any more than old ideas are necessarily good.  Each has to be evaluated to determine its appropriateness for the present and future.

In my personal life, I’m sure I’ll hang on to some routines, especially those which flow from the core of who I am as a person and from the values nearest and dearest to me.  But there are other routines that I ought to call into question because they just don’t bring real value any more.  They should probably be replaced by new activities and ways of doing things that might bring a freshness, excitement, and enthusiasm along with the change of pace.

At work, it may be time to join with others and pick one routine, process, procedure, policy or tradition and take the time to talk about how we can change things for the better.  We don’t have to try to change the whole corporate culture overnight; that won’t happen, anyway.  But each of us can have influence over at least one thing at a time if we are willing to listen to others and speak ourselves of new ways of getting from where we are to where we want to be.

I love the fact that the enterprise social network I manage (called Buzz) sees many posts and suggestions every day about what we can do to improve.  So many people at all levels of the org chart have fresh ideas they share daily that can help us improve our products, services, and processes, both for ourselves as employees and for the consumers we serve.  Not all ideas get implemented, but some do.  Simply having the courage to put the ideas out there, engage in discussion with others about them, and massage them into a form worth implementing is a valuable endeavor that we must continue to do as we rethink routine.

Obviously, not everyone gets excited about rethinking routine, especially when it’s someone else trying to change our routine rather than a self-initiated effort.  I have witnessed several occasions where the candor about dissatisfaction with policies and processes is met with great resistance rather than helpful dialogue.  I recall an email recently, for example, when someone partially responsible for a process that is frustratingly long and convoluted replied to the criticism on Buzz about that process in an email chain with an email that simply said “I hate Buzz.”  Really?  That’s your response to repeated frustration with your broken and unreasonable process – to criticize the channel of communication by which those frustrations are made known instead of addressing the concerns expressed?  That isn’t rethinking routine.  That’s guarding your perceived turf without regard for the good of the business.  We can’t afford that kind of thinking and attitude.  The thinking that got us here won’t get us there.

On the flip side, however, I love what I’m hearing lately from leadership at my company in this regard, from my manager to our new Chief Consumerism Officer whom I heard in person for the first time yesterday, to our President/CEO.  The message is clear, consistent and encouraging: To get to a new place requires that we be open to doing new things as well as to doing old things in new ways.

Whether in my personal or professional life, I don’t want the aerial view to look like me being in a long line of cattle following a well-worn path to the same ol’ destination day in and day out.  There is a lot of green pasture out there to explore.

Rethink routine.

Cultivate Uniqueness

Posted: May 1, 2013 in Uniqueness
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Cultivate UniquenessThis post is the second is a five-part series covering the five values my company, Humana, focuses on.  As a reminder, the values are:

I’ve also written about the helpfulness of using these values in decision making.

Today’s subject: Cultivate Uniqueness – what can I do to live out this value personally and professionally?

What do you think about when you hear the phrase “cultivate uniqueness”?  Do you think it’s an encouragement to expand inclusion and diversity programs that tend to focus on certain easily measurable demographic differences?  Is it a plea to encourage different ways of thinking and respecting different perspectives?  Is it both of those and maybe more?  I’ve written previously on the need for more emphasis on diversity of thought compared to the more frequent focus of easily quantifiable demographic diversity.

When our company promotes the idea of cultivating uniqueness, here is what we have in mind according to a recent document I received: “We find ways to connect with each other and our consumers.  Respecting one another, listening with an open mind, and seeking different perspectives result in richer solutions.”  That sounds to me like diversity of thought and the interpersonal respect that goes along with valuing the unique perspective others bring to the table.

So what am I doing or what can I do to live out this value?

Personally, I feel that I have always done fairly well at showing respect to others and listening to others, even when we might disagree.  I honestly try to understand the perspectives others bring to the table, even if they are wildly different than mine.  I’ve been told I’m a good listener.  There are others around who bring perspectives to the table that would never occur to me, and if we gather all of these ideas from a group, we then have a much greater chance at arriving at the best solutions possible given our cumulative knowledge and experiences.  When I was a manager at another company, I loved surrounding myself with a variety of people and personalities, entrusting them to do their jobs in ways I would never have imagined.

Uniqueness Not So SpecialOf course, simply being unique in one’s perspective is no guarantee that any particular perspective is helpful in a business accomplishing its objectives.  Ideas still have to be vetted by teams and ultimately a decision-maker on whose desk is the sign “The Buck Stops Here.”  But having more choices in that cafeteria line of ideas should make the possibility of a healthy, well-rounded final decision possible.

It is in my role as the community manager for our enterprise social network that I have the greatest opportunity daily to foster the value of cultivating uniqueness.  With over 1,000 posts per day made on the network, many of them are ideas tossed around that invite conversation where the unique perspectives of others add to the discussion.  As a result of that discussion, an original idea can eventually morph into an even better idea with great buy-in from others involved in the process.  I enjoy bringing attention to discussions that may be controversial from time to time because the thinking behind them may go against the 51-year-old grain of the organization.

One of the greatest values of social networks is realized if and when leaders and others crowdsource ideas in order to ultimately make better decisions.  Whether those decisions are about new products and services, how to improve processes and customer service, discussions about proposed policy or benefit changes, I can guarantee that better decisions will ultimately be made IF leaders and others understand the need to involve a broad base of people in the conversation BEFORE decisions are made and handed down.  It is when large, bureaucratic, traditionally hierarchical organizations make major decisions by a select few gathered behind closed doors that the potential value of cultivating uniqueness goes out the window.  In an age when social networking is readily available inside and outside organizations, such Neanderthal decision-making processes are inexcusable.  You can bet that won’t be the way future generations communicate, so businesses that want to be a part of that future need to change their habits now.

One more thought about the value “cultivate uniqueness” – remember what the word cultivate means.  According to Merriam-Webster, it means to foster growth; to improve by labor, care, or study; to further, encourage, or make friends with.  So not only am I to value the unique perspectives of others, I need to be active in doing things that foster that growth, that encourage the sharing of those perspectives, that creates an environment where others feel welcome and safe in sharing their ideas, even if they think there may be some resistance.

In a world with much division around ideas and philosophies, it would sure be nice to literally make friends with those unique people in our midst whose perspectives can enrich our lives personally and professionally.

Cultivate uniqueness.

Inspire Health

Posted: April 30, 2013 in Health
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me running a half-marathon several years ago

me running a half-marathon several years ago

I recently wrote about our company’s five corporate values and their helpfulness when used in making decisions.  Today I want to start a series of posts on each of these five values, addressing how I can live each one personally and professionally.  As a reminder, the five values are:

This post focuses on the first value – Inspire Health.

When I was young and continuing all the way up through college, I was the skinniest person I knew.  I recall once being held up by my ankles in grade school at my desk by a bigger kid when the teacher was out of the room.  I know what it’s like to never be picked for the sports teams in gym class until there is no other choice.  I was “invited” to not come back to my Little League baseball team by the coach after a few practices.  Even though I was a pretty good shot at basketball from playing quite a bit at my house, the junior high coach did not reward my tryout with the option of playing on the team – a tryout that took every ounce of courage I had.

By high school, some of my closest friends affectionately called me Runt and still do.  I knew my strength was academics, not sports, so I have avoided team sports like the plague ever since.  When I got married one week after graduating from college, I weighed a measly 113 pounds and embarked on a year of drinking a gallon of milk a day to put on a few pounds.  Eventually I took up running in my 40s because it’s something I can do and be proud of, competing against myself while improving my health.

Goodness knows I have enjoyed my share of junk food along the way – burgers, fries, pizza, all things spicy, ice cream, chocolate, and the favorite soft drink of all of us raised in Winchester, Kentucky - Ale-8 – all the usual no-no’s.  Being perpetually underweight didn’t exactly deter me from eating what I felt like eating in quantity or quality.

I share all of the above to confess that for most of my life I haven’t been too terribly concerned with health-related matters.  It’s rare that I’m sick or experience issues, so there has hardly ever been an imposed reason to be concerned.

Muddy Fanatic

some of our team with spouses/friends after a Muddy Fanatic race last year

But then I went to work almost ten years ago for Humana, a health insurance company, and not just a health insurance company, but one that genuinely cares about people living in a healthy manner, promoting it among employees as well as those they insure.  I finally joined a nearby fitness center that was convenient to attend, although I’m not a member currently, preferring to walk/jog/run alone or with my dog for most of my physical activity.

Last summer our company sponsored a 100 Day Dash for employees where I made a commitment and succeeded in averaging 15,000 steps per day for all 100 days, losing 16 pounds in the process and returning to a weight I had been at for many years when I felt my best.  I have been at or below that weight every day since last July 26 and I make sure I eat and maintain a level of activity that keeps me at or below that target weight.

I still enjoy an occasional junk meal, but never to excess, and I more frequently choose healthy options when eating out than I did my first 55 years of life.  My annual physical results are great as are the annual biometric measurements for work that earns us a lower health insurance cost, and an additional annual assessment for work which last year showed my “Vitality” age to be two years younger than my actual age.  All in all, not too bad.

That’s the personal.  You may or may not find it inspiring.  What about the professional opportunities I have to inspire health?

In my role at work as the community manager for our enterprise social network, I am pleased that health and wellness related topics are the number one topic every week.  It is a pleasure to manage a platform that is being used by more than 26,000 employees in part to help improve all aspects of their well-being – health, security, belonging and purpose.  While very few of the 7,000+ posts per week are made by me, I choose which few get broadcast in a weekly summary email to all 26,000 people, making sure I include health-related posts regularly, bringing attention to personal success stories and opportunities to improve one’s health.

Also at work, I am responsible for the company’s corporate Twitter account (@Humana) where I make sure that about eight tweets per day go out, the vast majority of which promote health-related well-being.  That is another opportunity to extend the message and inspire thousands of others daily to live a healthy lifestyle.

There is still more I need to do for my own health, some of which is captured in my goals for 2013.  I’m doing very well on the health-related goals I set for the year and am starting to think about goals for next year such as more gym workouts, and more (and longer) races to run.

Humana's President/CEO Bruce Broussard biking to work

Humana’s President/CEO Bruce Broussard biking to work

I deeply appreciate the regular encouragement, reminders and incentives my company provides for our 44,000 employees to live a healthy lifestyle.  I appreciate the regular well-being reports they distribute that inform us how we are progressing as a company regarding associate well-being.  I appreciate a President/CEO who models healthy behavior.  I enjoy working on the social media team that occasionally participates together in events like races and who daily makes multiple posts across numerous social media sites related to well-being.  I am grateful for a host of colleagues who share their struggles and successes on our internal social network.  Such sharing opens the conversation, creates a safe place for others to share, and inspires untold thousands in the process.

I may not be the person others think of when they think of the value “Inspire Health,” but in some small ways I know I’m living it and promoting it to others.  I look forward to continuing the journey.

Inspire health.

Doing What It Takes

Posted: April 27, 2013 in Attitude
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Whatever It TakesI want to take a moment to give some kudos to my bride of almost 34 years, Linda.  She is 3+ weeks following a knee-replacement surgery and less than two weeks away from her second one on May 9.  It has been a challenging journey for her from the effects of the pain meds after surgery to dealing with the rehab exercises and the difficulty doing everyday things that she would normally not think twice about.  But she is doing what it takes to improve daily and shows the determination to do what is best in the long run even when she may not feel like doing it.  I am extremely proud of her and the determination she shows daily.

All of us avoid pain, of course.  To go through daily exercise routines to the point of pain because you know it’s good for you takes a special person with an inner strength that not everyone has.  She has me help her with some of the exercises by pushing her leg to bend more than she can on her own for a second or two – something that feels incredibly weird for me when I know the outcome is her yelling at the point of pain.  She thinks I enjoy it in some evil way, but I don’t.  Still, I’ll gladly do whatever she wants and needs if it helps.

We’ve all heard the phrase ”no pain…no gain” as a motivator to get us to stretch ourselves in exercise and attempts at fitness.  Many of us would much rather live by the motto of “no pain…no pain” instead.

There are moments when Linda is a bit apprehensive or weepy about going through all of this again in two weeks with the other knee.  I told her a couple of nights ago in one such moment not to think about two weeks from now, but about 6-8 weeks from now.  What she is enduring for a couple of months is setting her up to be in a much better place for years to come regarding mobility compared to what she was experiencing prior to the surgeries.  She knows that and will successfully keep the long view in mind.

Each of us has challenges we face, goals to achieve, things that cost us some pain and discomfort – physical or otherwise – on the way to victory.  If we only concern ourselves with what is expedient and pleasurable in the moment, we’ll never cross those long-term finish lines.

On a related note, I have a number of friends and work colleagues who ran the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini-Marathon today in Louisville (a half marathon of 13.1 miles), some for the first time.  They didn’t cross that finish line only because of what they did today, but because of what they’ve done for weeks, months and years leading up to today.  They willingly endured some self-inflicted pain prior to today so that today they could feel the jubilation of individual victory.  I applaud them all.  I’ve done that half-marathon a few times myself and I know how satisfying it is to complete it.

To coworkers who go the extra mile to get things done and to do them well, to friends and family who choose to live life with determination and fortitude, and especially to Linda who is as tough as anyone I know, thank you for your attitude, your sacrificial efforts and example, and for inspiring me daily to do what it takes.

Making Values-Based Decisions

Posted: April 17, 2013 in Values
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Corporate ValuesHow do you make work-related decisions?  Do you fly by the seat of your pants and do what seems expedient at the moment?  Do you go down the easiest path?  the hardest one?  Do you do what you think will get you the most attention, glory and upward mobility in the organization?  Do you have some clear goals, objectives and strategy in mind by which you evaluate the pros and cons of options?

There are many processes and criteria people can use to make decisions at work.  Some are more noble than others.  Some are more effective than others.  I’d like to share with you some thoughts about values-based decision-making that stems from some discussions and communications at my company about our corporate values.

Recently, five simple values were presented by senior leadership to all associates.  To be more accurate, many associates at all levels were involved in the process that resulted in the set of values, but the final communication about them to everyone came, naturally, from top leadership.  I’m very impressed by them, and especially by their clarity and simplicity:

  • Inspire Health
  • Cultivate Uniqueness
  • Rethink Routine
  • Pioneer Simplicity
  • Thrive Together

Nearly all companies of any significant size have a variety of statements they tout from mission statements to purpose statements and value propositions and guiding principles and mottos and blah, blah, blah, ad nauseum.  I never was able to figure out the difference in all of those types of statements.  Too often they sounded like corporate-speak mumbo-jumbo that nobody outside the little cocooned offices that unveiled them really cared about.  So it was with a slight bit of skepticism that I listened to and read communications from our leaders and others about newly defined values.  Was this just the corporate-speak du jour spawned by a change in leadership, or was it more substantive than that?

I’m glad to say I think it’s substantive.  Yes, promotion of the values is being championed by our new CEO, but he believes in them, speaks often and convincingly about them, practices them, and expects others to do so as well, all of which is very encouraging.  The five values are simple, easy to remember and communicate, and something the average employee can buy into, keeping them in mind as we do our work and as we make decisions about what we do and how we do it.

For example, one cause I’m championing right now at work is opening up our internal social network to allow all employees to use the vendor’s excellent mobile apps on their personal mobile devices so that anyone can access the network simply, quickly, and effectively from anywhere, anytime, without losing any functionality they expect from the app.  That isn’t possible currently because of security measures and access processes in place.  Some clunky and inadequate workarounds make the current mobile experience so dreadful that nobody uses them.  Consequently, leaders and others on the go rarely participate due in part to the lack of mobile access.

Looking at the five values above, I have to consider the “pioneer simplicity” value when looking at possible solutions to this matter.  Do the current workarounds pioneer simplicity?  No.  They take complexity and user-unfriendliness to extremes.

What would happen if the stakeholders involved with coming up with a solution sat around a table with each of them buying into the idea of pioneering simplicity?  I am confident we could reach a solution that meets the security needs of the enterprise while maintaining the simplicity, user-friendliness and full functionality demanded by those who use the internal social network.  As we have future calls and meetings about the matter, you can rest assured that I will, if needed, respond to suggestions of complicated solutions with the legitimate question, “How does that mesh with the corporate value of pioneering simplicity?”

And that is where the beauty of having clear, simple corporate values can come into play for the average employee.  If I challenge a complex solution, it isn’t because I’m being a grumpy old man or I have some personal vendetta against others involved.  It is because I believe in the value of pioneering simplicity, and I think living and making decisions accordingly is in the best interests of the company, its employees, and ultimately its customers and stockholders.

As individuals, we have deeply-held personal values that are inseparable from decisions we make in our personal lives.  Such values are what guide us day by day in decisions big and small.  So why should we not also have a few simple, important values undergirding our business decisions?  I think we should.  I’m willing to adopt and promote the five values above as appropriate for my company.  Your organization’s values will likely be different and in accordance with its unique purpose.

Do you know your organization’s values?  Do you agree with them?  Do you consider them when making decisions?

For Such a Time as This

Posted: March 21, 2013 in Priorities
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For Such A Time As ThisAt my company, we have many discussions and activities related to the subject of well-being.  Most of these are related to the health dimension of well-being, but we still acknowledge and work toward improving well-being in other areas as well, such as security, belonging, and purpose.  This post addresses a little about the purpose dimension of well-being.

If someone asks you “What is your purpose in life?”, how will you respond?  Will the answer today be different than a few years ago?  Does one’s purpose remain relatively constant throughout adult life, or do you think it’s subject to periodic change?

For a few decades, when I have heard the question, I have immediately thought of the first part of the Westminster Shorter Catechism created in 1647:

“What is the chief end of man?  Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.”

I’m not telling anyone else what their purpose should be by posting the above – just stating that such a clear, concise understanding has helped guide me for many years and continues to do so.  But what does that mean?  It’s a rather broad statement and certainly open to interpretation at the level of implementation detail.  For me, the overall purpose remains constant, but how that fleshes out from one year to the next or even one day to the next is up for grabs.  I certainly have some consistent beliefs, practices and commitments related to that purpose, but there is flexibility that can make what I do today a little different that what I did yesterday, and there’s even a little wiggle room in some peripheral beliefs.  A sense of purpose may provide wide guidelines and boundaries within which we operate, while still being open to momentary, unexpected events that tie to the purpose, yet could never be planned in advance.

I believe each of us is uniquely positioned in this world to do something and to be someone unlike any other.  Nobody else has the exact experiences, motivations, passions, trials, and opportunities as you.  Nobody.  So it seems that each of us has the opportunity to live out our purpose in a wonderfully unique way that has not existed before and will not be repeated again, even if we share the same overall purpose.  It is as though we are actors in a tremendous drama where we get to write part of the script as we go, making the most of each moment.

This unique fleshing out of one’s purpose recalls to mind an insightful thought from one of the main characters in the grand story from the Old Testament book of Esther in the 5th century B.C.  As scenes change from one queen losing favor with the king, and a young Jewish Esther becoming queen, evil Haman plots to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire.  Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, in discussing her risky option of approaching the king to help save the Jews, tells her ”who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).  Being in that place at that time for those actions was central to Esther’s purpose in life.  I wonder how many little things along the way not recorded in the book contributed to the unfolding of events as they played out.  She, and only she, was in a unique position to make a difference in that situation for all time.

Decisions may be seemingly small, random and passing (such as to help that needy person on the street), or large and obviously consequential (e.g., career choices, relationship decisions, and leaps of faith).  It’s possible that coincidence is involved in the timing of some things, but it is just as likely (more so in my opinion) that there is more at work than mere coincidence, even in the daily unexpected moments that bring meaning to our days and that relate to our purpose.

My takeaways from thinking about this: Know the broad overarching purpose that gives your life meaning and significance.  Plan your days and work hard, but always be open to unexpected opportunities uniquely presented just to you at just that moment.  You will respond to them either in accordance with or contrary to your perceived purpose.

Who knows whether you have come for such a time as this?

Little Things Count

Posted: March 9, 2013 in Behavior
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Little Things CountHow do you choose to make a difference in the lives of others?  Do you think you can make such a difference?  Do you wish you could do more?  Do you think that what you do is of little significance?

Many people, myself included, want to make a positive difference in the world.  Most don’t have a large, public stage from which to perform such acts.  Most don’t have substantial financial resources to directly impact the welfare of those less fortunate.  Most don’t hold positions of power from which they can command the use of others’ time, energy and resources to accomplish what they want.  So does that mean each of us is relegated to having an insignificant impact that lasts for only a moment and affects very few others?  I don’t think so.

A couple of related thoughts come to mind when pondering this subject.  The first has to do with our definitions of success and significance.  The second relates to our awareness (or lack thereof) of the impact we have on others.

As for success vs. significance, our American culture attempts to define success in terms of how much money we make, how many possessions we have, how much power we wield, the kind and level of job we hold, what our home looks like, etc.  We mathematically categorize people as upper class, middle class, or lower class.

If you are in the trap of defining success that way, take a moment and think about some of the most important people in your past, those who had the most influence on you, those who taught you the most and helped shaped you into the person you are.  Think about the ways you have incorporated the lessons learned from those people into your life and how you have passed on those same lessons to others.  Now think back to the material circumstances of those influential people who came to mind.  Were they financially wealthy?  Were they the ones running huge corporations or in charge of millions or billions of dollars annually?  Were they well-known public officials?  Probably not (although they could be).  Instead, they were more likely parents, teachers, grandparents, friends or mentors who cared about you, noticed you, and gave generously of themselves to enrich your life.  Were they successful as culture defines success?  Maybe, maybe not.  But were they significant?  You bet they were!

We have to start making a clear distinction between culturally defined “success” and true “significance.”  Do a quick Amazon search on the word pair “success significance” and you’ll turn up several resources that distinguish between the two.  Ultimately, you are the one who must determine the definitions of success and significance by which you measure the impact of your life (i.e., if you measure it, which I don’t recommend trying).  For me, success was long ago defined by the book Success, Motivation, and the Scriptures by William H. Cook where I came away with the definition: “Success is doing what God wants you to do in the way He wants you to do it.”  Therefore, I am fulfilling my purpose and am successful if I live up to that definition.  I have to trust that significance is an outcome, whether I see or know about the results or not.

The beauty of that definition of success is that it potentially applies to any act, big or small.  Success might be facilitated by a public platform with the chance to speak to and influence many others.  But it also comes in simple one-to-one compassion shown for another, performing an act of kindness that enriches another’s life, having private conversation where you listen more than you talk, making sure that when you do talk, the words are worth the time others are taking to hear them.

I’m not discounting the value of the public, large-scale opportunities to make a difference.  We should take advantage of those whenever possible.  I want us to understand, though, that success and significance can also come through seemingly small things that have little or no audience.

When reading through the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles recently, I was struck by the reference in 9:31 to Mattithiah, one of the Levites, listed as being in charge of making the flat cakes.   Here in this chapter discussing the genealogy of returned exiles is recorded for all time a man who carried out his service daily making flat cakes.  In his world at the time, he was probably unnoticed by most.  He sought no fame or fortune.  He fulfilled his duty day in and day out.  He made flat cakes.  And now 2500 years later we read about him.  Mattithiah would have liked the definition of success above – doing what God wants you to do in the way He wants you to do it.  He was successful, and he was significant.  Acts of seemingly little significance are necessary, and are noticed and appreciated by God and others.

As we browse the Bible, there are so many additional reminders of the importance of doing the little things with the right attitude and motive, confident that they matter in the grand scheme of things to the only One who is worthy of judging:

  • “…whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” – Mark 10:43-44
  • “…I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.  In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me” – Philippians 4:11-13
  • “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” – Colossians 3:17.
  • “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” – Psalm 84:10.

The Bible’s definition and description of success is light years away from our culture’s.

As for our awareness (or lack thereof) of the impact we have on others, we simply don’t know the impact we have because we can’t be all places at all times.  There is a potential ripple effect of our actions and attitudes on the lives of others that we will never witness or hear about.  People that influenced me were influenced by others I may never have known, and those strangers were influenced by others I have never heard of who were born in another place and time.  In a sense, we are with our lives throwing a pebble in a pond and turning to walk away before we have the chance to observe the ripples and how far they extend.  It isn’t our job to study the ripples, though.  It is our role to toss the pebble.

I’ve had wonderful opportunities in my life through my work, through travel, through meeting people of different backgrounds, and through great relationships with family and friends.  I’m open to whatever platform from which I can make a difference, big or small.  At work I am content not to be a manager, although I’ve managed teams in the past and had success with it.  I’d be content being the Wal-Mart greeter who says hello and offers you a shopping cart.  At church, I’ve taught classes more often than not over the past 40+ years, and I’ve had plenty of opportunities to preach to congregations.  But the truth is that I’m just as content to serve by providing Christian literature and resources weekly or by making coffee early enough so it’s ready when others arrive.

Don’t let a twisted culture define success or significance for you.  Realize that significance can happen one person and one small act at a time.  Going that extra step to help someone at work or home, seeing to the laborious and unheralded tasks others don’t want to do, noticing the people and circumstances that others pass by in their daily rush and taking time to invest in them in some small way – these are the kinds of acts by which others will measure your success and significance.  They will carry those ripples into the lives of others.

Little things count.

If It’s Important, You’ll Find a Way

Posted: March 3, 2013 in Priorities
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image from carrotsncake.com

image from carrotsncake.com

This morning as I walked across the parking lot at my church, I saw a car pull up near the main entrance.  An old man got out and opened the trunk, then pulled out a walker for his wife.  He took it around to her door, helped her out, got her situated safely with the walker, then he headed back to the driver’s side to go park the car while the woman slowly made her way from the pull-in to the outside elevator entrance.  It was a sunny morning, but very cold.  The lady’s steps were short, slow, and deliberate.  It would take her a few minutes to inch her way across that relatively short distance from the car to the elevator – a distance I could sprint in about two seconds.

As I made my way to where I was going, I couldn’t help but admire the determination of the couple to do what they believed to be important at that time on Sunday morning – be at church.  I wondered how many others would stay home today because it was too cold, or because they were too tired from staying up or out late last night, or because it just isn’t important to them.  I wondered how many others – even church members – would think up some excuse for staying in bed or staying inside where it was warm and cozy because they didn’t want the discomfort or inconvenience or time spent doing something else.

I have believed and taught for many years that Sunday morning is not the time for you to decide whether you will be in church that day or not.  That is a decision made when you make your faith commitment, choosing to be a part of a body of believers from that point on, only excusing yourself from participation in the larger community in case of illness or very unusual, temporary circumstances.  I suspect this older couple shares that sentiment.

The takeaway lesson for me from watching the couple was that we find a way to do what is important to us.  I know that many of us have more things on our plate than should be there, and we have to occasionally let some things go in order to do others of greater importance.  Still, when it comes down to deciding what gets done and what doesn’t, we find a way to do what is really important.

If spending time with family isn’t important, we fill our days with other things.  If taking care of our home, car or other personal belongings isn’t important, we let them deteriorate.  If taking care of our bodies doesn’t matter to us, then we abuse them in all kinds of ways without really showing concern for the eventual consequences.  If living for the moment is more important than providing for the future, then we throw caution to the wind and think about tomorrow when tomorrow comes.  If we care mostly or solely about ourselves, then we never take the time to focus on and do what is in the best interests of others.

You want to know how you can find out what is important to me?  Look two places: at my schedule and my bank account.  How do I spend my time and how do I spend my money?  Those two windows into my life will tell you what is really important to me, regardless of what I say is important.  I pray that the view from those windows tells the same story as my words.

What is important to you, and does your schedule and your bank account reflect that?

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