BrownBag - An Introduction to Describing Your Organization' Values

Zia Gipson of Marketing That Matters suggests that in times of stress and change it's important for everyone connected with an organization to share core values as a guide to thinking on their feet.  Organizations discover their values, she said, by examining their practices, the choices they make, the stories of their development.  Organizations can state their values clearly -- and that's a big help -- but no-one can impose values; they have to be lived to be true.

She suggested some exercises organizations can use to develop values statements that will be accepted -- and useful. In a big organization, this can be the work of a task-group or committee charged with crafting a statement that can be presented, and discussed, more widely before being adopted.  That committee might ask co-workers, other stakeholders, outside observers and constituencies questions like these:

• What values do we have that don't depend on being paid, things we would do anyway?

• What values animated the founders? What values will be important to this organization 50 years hence?

• If we were to develop a new logo, what values should it reflect? What qualities should it convey?

• What is it about colleagues and leaders that makes them people we admire and respect? What makes them characteristic of our organiztion?

One good strategy, she suggested, is to divide into small groups where each group develops its own short list of descriptions of the organization's values.  Then these statements can be grouped together thematically (in the picture, Zia Gipson is doing that with the values statements for "our Pacific Northwest" that were developed in an exercise at the BrownBag).  When there's clear agreement from the start, people can work on crafting a final statement for possible adoption; if there are deep differences, the committee has something to chew on which may lead to important insights about the organization's culture.

BrownBag Seminars
help people widen their horizons and learn about how nonprofits work.
Offered in cooperation with Antioch University Seattle at 2326 Sixth Avenue