choosing anti-values

Over time, as your team grows and your culture evolves, you can find that the operating values you chose at the outset need refinement. It’s good to revisit the working definition you originally chose and edit that. Name specific behaviors that exemplify the value (some of those behaviors might not have been available when you started - did you even have a customer service dept back then, eg?). Consider deducing and defining your hidden nth value. 

In addition to revising the existing set and adding new values to it, you might find new clarity in identifying your “anti-values” as well. These are also values - wholesome, virtuous modes of being and acting that are reasonable to want. But they are ones you’re choosing not to optimize for. You’re doing that on purpose. 

This means anti-values aren’t vices, per se. They’re not the opposites of your values; they’re more like nearby distractions. To illustrate: If “integrity” was one of your original values, the anti-value could be something like a cousin to “integrity” - maybe “transparency” or “precision.” “Dishonesty” would not be the anti-value.

The point of this exercise, like the selection of operating values in the first place, is simplifying choices for your people and clarifying their path to excellence. Naming anti-values is a way of running an “even over” exercise -  you’re telling your folks that you care so much about [original value] you want them to prioritize it “even over” [anti-value].

Getting to a set of anti-values you’re confident about putting in front of the whole company might take more time and effort than you have. If so, do a hacky rough draft and share the results with the folks you directly manage - if nothing else, it gives that small group a clearer sense of your preferences and priorities.

-Eric