How - Dov Seidman [53]
There are myraid reasons why it is important now, more than ever before, to rethink our relationship to rules. First, twenty-first-century business craves creativity and innovation over almost all else, and freeing yourself from the constraints of rules-based thought unleashes new pathways of exploration and possibility. More important, in a transparent world we are judged as much by the process of HOW we solve problems as by the results we achieve. In a world where we have any number of competitors or potential competitors, HOW we do what we do is the thing that increasingly differentiates us from the other guy. There is hardly a business that doesn’t suffer from “the grocery store syndrome.” We can choose from any number of grocery stores, each one offering competitive prices. After price, the choice of where to shop usually boils down to customer experience, the quality of the human interaction that occurs there. We want to shop where it is pleasant, where the goods are easily seen and obtained, and where the employees respond positively to us. To provide this sort of experience in everything you do, to discover ways to outbehave the competition, you need to think in ways that inspire your best achievement, to think in the language of should.
RISK AND REWARD
Thinking in the language of values unlocks powerful possibilities for growth and action, but at first blush it can seem dangerous to some. For the senior management of companies, shifting the way you lead and govern people from rules-based to values-based thinking sometimes brings the fear of losing control. Governing by rules shifts less power down the hierarchy, allowing those at the top to believe they can easily control the actions of those below them. This is a habit of mind left over from the days of fortress capitalism and feudalism. Leading from values, on the other hand, decentralizes power and shifts the responsibility for decision making into the hands of individuals at all levels. Values are not black-and-white or quantitative. Values are like trust; they empower others to honor or betray you. They open up avenues of possibility and leave room for interpretation.
Surprisingly, though, values-based leadership has a tremendous upside. As business units spread around the world and more and more interactions take place among equals in the organization, top-down governance strategies become less effective. The trend of twenty-first-century business to become more horizontal, in fact, creates fertile conditions for leadership strategies that thrive in decentralized environments. While this shift of power may at first seem to make values-based thinking dangerous for businesses of all sizes, it ultimately makes them more powerful. The new conditions of the world of HOW call out for exactly this sort of approach. Values-based thinking truly frees the individual to act in the interests of the organization.
When Harry C. Stonecipher, the president and CEO of Boeing, was asked by Boeing’s board to resign after having an extramarital affair with another employee, for example, the company could have responded by amending its code of conduct to prohibit or restrict certain kinds of relationships between employees. Instead, Boeing did something far more interesting: It enshrined and enforced a value. Lead director and former non-executive chairman of Boeing, Lewis Platt, said, “The board concluded that the facts reflected poorly on Harry’s judgment and would impair his ability to lead the company . . . the CEO must set the standard for unimpeachable professional and personal behavior, and the board determined that this was the right and necessary decision under the circumstances. We have fought hard to restore our reputation. Everyone should know that