Valuing the lot
IF YOU are what people term widely read, and if your main choice of literature for some strange, bizarre and twisted reason hinges on management issues and management-related topics, you will undoubtedly have come across a word called value. It is a very important word and a lot of people, management gurus or otherwise, use it very often. Oftener sometimes than they need to! They use it mostly at formal get-togethers, boardroom and shareholder meetings and press conferences (there are stray cases of some having used it during moments of weakness at dinner parties as well).
In fact, the word is so much in vogue at present that the common or garden CEO or company front man probably uses it at least once in every three sentences. And that is a conservative estimate. It is therefore essential that laymen like myself roll up our sleeves once more and jump into the muddy trenches of management jargon with a grim-faced determination. The objective? Why, as always, to try to understand just what on earth and corporate offices is going on. Let us start with the dictionary. Value has several meanings - so many in fact, that you can almost forgive its wildly extravagant use. Almost.
[Value: n. A principle, standard or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.] So what exactly does management mean when they say they cannot work with X company or Y person because they are looking to collaborate only with partners who share their values? Mostly, though not always, it means that one of the parties wanted more money/business/(insert relevant material gain) than the other was willing to give. Which brings us to the second meaning of value. [Value: n. Worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor, utility or merit.] Perhaps a more pertinent definition. Most companies, and people, have values. For instance, if you are shopping for clothes and you see a black leather jacket with a skull embossed on its back and metal chains jangling from its shoulders, you are likely to buy it if you are between the age of 14 and 30 and are an avid fan of Heavy Metal. You are just unlikely to buy it if you are the type who listens to Classical music and fasts on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It is not a question of good or bad - it is a question of values. Some things you value and some things you don't. It is much the same with companies.
The vital question here though is, do these values affect your decisions? Often, they do. Sometimes, even without your knowing it. Should they affect your decisions? That is up for speculation. The primary object of this scrutiny is not to determine effect but cause, although the effect will also be dealt with as a by-product.
Many people have or cite many different values - the most common are honesty, integrity, respect, equal opportunity and so on and so forth. Do they live by it? Some do and some don't. The reason they do is either because stern parents instilled them with all the gentleness of a driven stake or because they found that those values actually work.
The main problem with values is that they sometimes conflict with common sense. Take for example that three-fold salary jump that you might get if you leap to that rival company poaching you. Common sense dictates that you take it. And you should unless of course being loyal to your company is one of your values. It is a conundrum; a dilemma; a predicament. People often get out of this jam by compromising.
Is that a good thing to do? In the short term, yes; in the long term, perhaps not. Depends on what you mean by value. If you measure value in utility or usefulness, then none of this really matters. If, however, you make your values a sort of a statement by which you lead your life then you are going to have a tough time ahead. You may get a three-fold jump in pay if you switch sides, but you will also get a reputation for being a money-hungry scrooge. Then there is also that thing called your inner self - that sense of gloom that sits deep inside your chest and refuses to leave when you feel you have done something wrong.
So what do you do? Placate your conscience or grab the opportunity? To be or not to be that is the question. Perhaps there is no easy answer. Ultimately, you are the judge. You make your choices and deal with their consequences. If your values and principles are what are important to you, then stick by them. If your only value is ambition and you are willing to grab whatever comes your way, stick with that. As they say, to each his own. As for this writer, he will stick to talking about it at dinner parties.
PETER THUTHURI
faqs@cnkonline.com
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