4 ms·

"Our next team meeting is dedicated to Core Values, which are essential to building our culture." Having meetings about culture and "core values" is a sure sig

by n72 12y ago

"Our next team meeting is dedicated to Core Values, which are essential to building our culture." Having meetings about culture and "core values" is a sure sign your culture's fucked. The fact that he thinks having a meeting about culture might in some way help fix some culture issue indicates to me he's really not the person to impart pearls of wisdom when it comes to company culture. tl;dr that's mba-speak, bro.

wpietri 12y ago
I think it's a sign, but not a sure sign. One company I consulted at, maybe 200 people, went through a substantial internal process to make their values explicit. I wasn't there for it, but I understand everybody participated, and there was a lot of discussion about what they really wanted in a mission statement and a set of values. When I was there, it amazed me to see employees at all levels actually pulling out the list of values when hard decisions were happening. They used it to remind themselves of what really mattered to them. Admittedly, I've only seen it once, but it really appeared to work. It's definitely something I'm keeping in my pocket the next time I'm at something that crosses Dunbar's Number.
- arghbleargh 12y ago
  That sounds amazing to me too. What you described is really the only way that making lists of "core values" could possibly achieve something useful. I just never thought it could happen. Usually people just remember the core values as a list of things that sound good, and they're too abstract to offer any real guidance for a concrete situation.
pm 12y ago
You can't really tell whether it's fucked or not - they could just as easily have decided it was time to codify the overarching values that have developed organically over time.
nostrademons 12y ago
Google's "don't be evil" motto came out of a company meeting on core values. I would hardly say that Google's culture from 2002-2011 was fucked.
- barry-cotter 12y ago
  What happened in 2011? And the wage suppression agreement has made a mockery of the idea that management at Google take "Don't be evil" seriously.
  - luser 12y ago
    Ah, there is the thing most people don't realise. The "core values" are for the drones, specifically to keep them in line and not cause any issues. The board members can keep doing what the $%%$ they want as the only values they have are economic, the generation of profit for the company. Just remember that corporationa are not "ethical" so having "core values" is an oxymoron. The only thing a corporation exists for is profit, so "core values" is the clown face painted on a psychopath. A corporation will lie, rape and destroy to make a profit. Human beings have values. Human beings can be ethical. But most corporate leaders leave their humanity at the door when running a corporation. It is just business. "Core values" are a delusion for the masses, a stupid form of mind control to keep the losers in thrall [1]. [1] See the definition of loser here: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/ http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-o...
    - nostrademons 12y ago
      Many more people realize that than you realize, but I think you're misunderstanding the Gervais Principle link. "Losers" in the Gervais model are completely aware that their company is getting a much better economic deal than they are. They just don't think that's a big deal, because, after all, human beings have values but corporations are basically amoral. So a corporation is just a tool for a Gervais Loser to feed, clothe, and shelter himself; he directs his emotional energy toward his personal relationships. Core values are useful for attracting and keeping the Clueless in the Gervais model. But in doing so, they make the company more than just a purely amoral economic engine. In order to sustain the delusions of the Clueless, the Sociopaths at the top need to pay at least lip service to preserving their illusions, else they leave in a huff and start acting like a wrecking ball, as a certain other prominent HN poster who likes to throw around Gervais Principle links has done. That lip service is pretty much the entire social purpose of the corporation. One often-unstated corollary of the Gervais Principle is that the whole idea of "money" and "profit" is a social construction developed by Clueless and Losers to rein in the will-to-power Sociopaths. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Bonaparte went on killing sprees to satisfy their need for power. Steve Jobs and Richard Branson go on building sprees. That's entirely because the Clueless and Losers have created a society where the only way to the top is to take a bunch of people with you.

by n72 12y ago

wpietri 12y ago

I think it's a sign, but not a sure sign. One company I consulted at, maybe 200 people, went through a substantial internal process to make their values explicit. I wasn't there for it, but I understand everybody participated, and there was a lot of discussion about what they really wanted in a mission statement and a set of values. When I was there, it amazed me to see employees at all levels actually pulling out the list of values when hard decisions were happening. They used it to remind themselves of what really mattered to them. Admittedly, I've only seen it once, but it really appeared to work. It's definitely something I'm keeping in my pocket the next time I'm at something that crosses Dunbar's Number.

arghbleargh 12y ago
That sounds amazing to me too. What you described is really the only way that making lists of "core values" could possibly achieve something useful. I just never thought it could happen. Usually people just remember the core values as a list of things that sound good, and they're too abstract to offer any real guidance for a concrete situation.

pm 12y ago

You can't really tell whether it's fucked or not - they could just as easily have decided it was time to codify the overarching values that have developed organically over time.

nostrademons 12y ago

Google's "don't be evil" motto came out of a company meeting on core values. I would hardly say that Google's culture from 2002-2011 was fucked.

barry-cotter 12y ago
What happened in 2011? And the wage suppression agreement has made a mockery of the idea that management at Google take "Don't be evil" seriously.
- luser 12y ago
  Ah, there is the thing most people don't realise. The "core values" are for the drones, specifically to keep them in line and not cause any issues. The board members can keep doing what the $%%$ they want as the only values they have are economic, the generation of profit for the company. Just remember that corporationa are not "ethical" so having "core values" is an oxymoron. The only thing a corporation exists for is profit, so "core values" is the clown face painted on a psychopath. A corporation will lie, rape and destroy to make a profit. Human beings have values. Human beings can be ethical. But most corporate leaders leave their humanity at the door when running a corporation. It is just business. "Core values" are a delusion for the masses, a stupid form of mind control to keep the losers in thrall [1]. [1] See the definition of loser here: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/ http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-o...
  - nostrademons 12y ago
    Many more people realize that than you realize, but I think you're misunderstanding the Gervais Principle link. "Losers" in the Gervais model are completely aware that their company is getting a much better economic deal than they are. They just don't think that's a big deal, because, after all, human beings have values but corporations are basically amoral. So a corporation is just a tool for a Gervais Loser to feed, clothe, and shelter himself; he directs his emotional energy toward his personal relationships. Core values are useful for attracting and keeping the Clueless in the Gervais model. But in doing so, they make the company more than just a purely amoral economic engine. In order to sustain the delusions of the Clueless, the Sociopaths at the top need to pay at least lip service to preserving their illusions, else they leave in a huff and start acting like a wrecking ball, as a certain other prominent HN poster who likes to throw around Gervais Principle links has done. That lip service is pretty much the entire social purpose of the corporation. One often-unstated corollary of the Gervais Principle is that the whole idea of "money" and "profit" is a social construction developed by Clueless and Losers to rein in the will-to-power Sociopaths. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Bonaparte went on killing sprees to satisfy their need for power. Steve Jobs and Richard Branson go on building sprees. That's entirely because the Clueless and Losers have created a society where the only way to the top is to take a bunch of people with you.