The ability to make good "value" decisions is one of today's most critical life skills.
What we make of the future will depend on what we believe has value. How we spend our time, where we spend our money and what we do with our lives, are all directly influenced by our capacity to make clear, balanced and "good" value decisions.
While we recognize that our values influence
our lives, it is sometimes difficult to get clear on exactly how
our values are shaping our decisions and actions. We often find
inconsistencies between what people say they value and what they
actually do. We hear people say things like, "There's nothing's
more important than my family", and see them so wrapped up
in their work that they seldom have time for home; or they chant,
"Our business is people" and find that their policies
and practices don't really focus on people first, but profits
or productivity.
What we value shapes our choices, and impacts the decisions about what be believe we can do, how well we treat ourselves and the value we give to our efforts and accomplishments. Ideas like "Up is better" have caused tremendous trauma for millions of people who have been laid off or see no promotion in their future. Working hard to get ahead, beat the competition, or be in control are all concepts that have lead to many of the win/lose results we've created in our world, including the workplace and at home.
History tells the story of our evolution
from the "value" of dominance to the more recent system
that places value on competition. These values have influenced
our homes, our schools and the work place to the point where it
is often difficult to be sure whether what we value is "right"
or "good", or if we are just playing out the programs
we've been taught.
For the past several decades, our educational systems and the business world have continued to foster the historic models of power and competition. While these strategies have resulted in great wealth for a few in the short term, they have given less than satisfactory results for society in general. We now see our schools and even major corporations starting to fail, taking one futile path after another to recapture past prominence. When we see our kids attacking kids, police killing innocent citizens, and our military bombing innocent civilians of other countries in the name of right, it is clear that a values' inversion has taken hold.
At work, companies have sought a panacea in one new management technique after another. Many have tried concepts like Management By Objectives, Organizational Development, Quality Circles and Total Quality Management. Countless millions are spent on books, tapes, training and consultation in hopes that one of these concepts will provide the answer. But like trying to "find ourselves" by taking a trip, we've searched for the solutions in the wrong place. Few have recognized what it will take to create our future and make it what it can be.
Businesses, organizations and government
are run by people, and the decisions they make are based on what
those people believe and value. New solutions must address the
need for a positive shift in the values that influence our decisions.
Only through learning to make better "value decisions"
can we as individuals and our organizations create a new paradigm
that will lead to better results and a world of new possibilities.
Examining our values, learning how they lead us to make our decisions, and being willing to find out what we don't know we don't know, are essential steps to creating new possibilities for ourselves and our world. If you want to have something you never had before, you have to do something you have never done before. This means that everyone who wants to be part of creating a "win/win" environment at home and in the workplace, will be ready and willing to consider new ways of thinking. Understanding how we can align our values with our actions is critical to creating the kind of experiences we want to have, and to live a life we choose to live.
What will it take to learn how to do things that seem so right and yet so foreign to what we have been taught, not resigned and cynical to accept that things are just the way things are? Where can we look for a new model that will provide possibilities beyond the next quarterly report? Who decides what has value?
To learn new ways of thinking that serve us better than many of the old ideas we were taught doesn't require giving up anything that we truly value, but does require a willingness to take an objective look at the values and beliefs that influence our own decisions.
Much of what we do "naturally" results from beliefs and attitudes that were shaped by our personal life experiences. Simple things like memories of the response we got to our report cards, picking teams on the school playground, the attention we got from teachers, and even our early experiences in the workplace, all influence our ability to make value decisions in ways that are seldom evident to us. They are in the background, yet affect our lives in ways we aren't even aware.
These life shaping experiences influence how we think about issues like security, self-confidence, control, relationships and how we think things "ought" to be. Learning to recognize "why we do what we do" can be an enlightening and empowering experience, and is a place to start examining the effectiveness of our current decision-making and choices.
Getting clear about the values that we have
"adopted" doesn't require therapy or subjective interpretations,
which only guess at our motivations. It can be accomplished by
some very candid self-examination of the decisions we make in
relation to the results we are getting. If your decisions are
not leading to the results and life you want, then consider examining
the "why" of your decisions. Objective self-evaluation
is difficult at best. Fortunately there is an excellent alternative.
Thanks to the work of the late Robert S. Hartman, there is proven system for improving our capacity for making "good" value decisions. Dr. Hartman was nominated for the Nobel Prize for his ground breaking work. He developed a scientific model for the measurement of the capacity for making "value decisions" that can alter the path of your life and life on the planet. Hartman's value science is called "Axiology" and offers an objective look that enables us to identify "how" we think and "why" we make the decisions we do. It does this as precisely as a ruler measuring an inch.
We know that despite the fact we spend all
of our time with our thoughts and our subsequent reactions, most
of us are unaware of why and how we make the choices we do. Think
about it. To what degree do you place value on pleasing customers,
providing better products or service, or making a profit, and
in what order? Which is most important, playing by the rules,
doing things right or doing the right things? And how can you
be sure you're not fooling yourself about your answers?
With more than 40 years of research, Hartman developed a "Value Profile" instrument that measures our capacity for decision-making as accurately as a thermometer measures temperature. The Value Profile provides clear, specific and objective feedback on how we look at ourselves and at our world. It enables us to see and recognize where we put most of our attention, what we overlook, how clearly we see and understand what is going on around us, and how balanced or biased we are in our thinking. This model provides an objective system for explaining and measuring individual and group decision-making patterns.
The value of the insights gained by people using the "Profile" and feedback process has been nothing short of incredible and life-altering. Leaders in companies around the world have been able to maximize the strengths and identify the "blind spots" of themselves and their people. They have greatly increased their ability to put people in positions where they can succeed, and determine which people can't make the decisions or won't make the commitments critical to their responsibilities.
We know that teaching or training people
who don't believe or "buy into" what's being taught
or trained is an obvious waste of time and money. Instead of trying
to train ideas into people who don't want them, or don't want
to alter their thinking, companies are using the "Value Profile"
to pinpoint where when training needs to focus. They can know
with certainty how much a person values "what" to do
before they teach them "how" to do it. Organizations
can now determine, in advance, the individuals and groups who
are most likely to adapt to needed changes and where resistance
to change should be expected.
Because Hartman's "Value Profile" is an objective value assessment instrument, it can provide leaders with direct and specific ideas on how they and their people make decisions, and how their thought processes influence their actions. Executives are learning how to improve their ability to make better value decisions, how they can best coach people, and how they can build more effect work teams.
Talent is seldom the reason people fall short of their potential. More often it is the result of conflicting values, in ourselves or with others. Knowing how values influence decisions has proven to be a powerful benefit in matching people to the right job, building effective teams, developing realistic plans for personal and organizational growth, and for creating an accepting, cooperative and productive organization. It is the same outside of the workplace, in social circles and at home. We are seeing dramatic shifts in relationships, and greater understanding and acceptance between spouses and among families.
Considering the impact of increasing demands for doing more with less, people find themselves spending more and more of their time facing value conflicts that interfere with their capacity to make good choices and value decisions. It is no wonder that people everywhere are experiencing increased difficulty maintaining enthusiasm, gaining agreement, maintaining commitments, and engaging in cooperation from the people they live and work with.
The good news is that the Value Profile can provide us with the insight we need to create a whole new world of possibility. From thousands of one-to-one coaching and feedback sessions using the Value Profile, people at all levels of work and places in life discover that once they understood and accepted how personal beliefs and values impacted their lives, they were able to make better, more realistic and healthy decisions. This increased self-awareness causes improved performance, increased personal satisfaction and reduced stress. It impacts the bottom line of the organization, as well as the personal life of the people who make up the organizations. It is also bringing families, spouses, parents and children closer together.
Our "values" influence our decisions and actions. Knowing what we value is the key to improving our capacity to make decisions that lead to better results and a more fulfilled life.
How clearly do you understand the "values" that are influencing your decision making?
Are you ready to make a meaningful difference in your life?
How willing are you to explore new possibilities to get the results you want and live the life you want to live?
If you're ready, I invite you to...