The Power of Values
By Sidsel Lindsø - CEO of ExploCrowd
Generally, companies are built over time and they often transform into something else than they were originally, when the founders first started the company. That is probably one of the reasons why companies end up in situations where they need to find and select values that best suit their new company culture and ambition. It also happens when two companies merge, which happens on a regular basis in our industry.
Values are sometimes credible and resonate with the people that work in the organisation, and sometimes they don’t. One example is from my former employer who introduced new values while I was there, and one of them was “humbleness”. The response in my part of the organisation was that people found it a bit silly and some even felt ashamed. It was probably meant as an ambition or a reminder, because if there is one thing that Mærsk was not, back in the old days, it was humble, and because we all knew it, it didn’t ring true at all. Here a value was used, not to describe the current culture, but more as a tool to try to move the organisation to a healthier place.
In ExploCrowd, the values were derived at the very beginning of the company's start. Our values are our very core, and they guide our decisions and influence our direction. Our Company Culture is based on these values, which are
Trust
Integrity
&
Transparency
They are the ones that make us move fast.
Let me explain how these values soak through our business and everything we do.
Trust is the foundation of everything we do. It is how we work together, it is how we know that our colleagues will deliver what we had agreed upon and at the high quality level we demand internally. It is also how we work with our clients, and it is our clear impression that the way we work is appreciated, especially because we reach so much further than they had expected.
In some companies, there is a toxic culture where it is natural that people build careers by stepping on others in order to advance. In the old days Prospect Peer Reviews could be a bloodbath, and I know of people in competitive company cultures who are just waiting to get a knife in the back. Think about how much value is destroyed in such cultures? Is it really in the business’ interest that people outcompete each other and the most ruthless cynic wins? There is no way that such organisations can unleash the full potential of their people, and hence maximise the value creation from their human capital. The priorities lie elsewhere.
We believe that there is a better alternative, which creates more value in the long term.
Trust also soak through to the business relations, where a high level of trust leads to brief and to-the-point legal documents, and a low level of trust requires hundreds of pages in contract documents. The Brexit negotiations is a good example of this. Introducing less comprehensive legal documents as basis for business means that we can move fast, as we did in order to earn client feedback like this:
“We made an enquiry regarding a data set covering parts of the Norwegian Sea. The reply from ExploCrowd came within 1 hour, with more information, updated maps of the AOI and helpful suggestions coming through the same day. The sale process was swift and hassle free, and the product was promptly delivered in correct formats, allowing us to immediately integrate the data in our subsurface analysis. Great post-sale follow up, excellent customer care!”
Exploration geologist from mid-size Independent NCS E&P Company
Detailed and limiting contracts can be an alternative, but if someone does not want to play by the rules, you will end up in a legal dispute anyway. However, trust is much more efficient and one could say a better solution for long term business relationships.
Control is good, but trust is cheaper.
Integrity is the most valuable thing you own, in my opinion. If you are forced to compromise on it, you lose a part of yourself. One can easily see the scientific integrity of our people, and it especially shows if something could potentially be rushed through, but our people rather take a few days more to do it properly so they can be proud of what is delivered. We have even put the foot down to a client who wanted us to compromise on our quality - but, since that would put our hard earned good reputation at risk, it is simply not worth it. Instead you prioritise. The race is long, and it is how you get there that matters, and it matters much more than the end goal.
Think of how you want to think back in your life at old age. What will you be most proud of? It's easy to take the shortcuts or the easy way’s out, but those are not the ones you look back on with pride, and they certainly do more to create division than cohesion among a team.
Transparency equals efficiency and it also builds trust. The alternative is that knowledge is power, and that is something of the old days and traditional companies. In companies and organisations of the future, when information flow freely and all members of the group are empowered, each member of the ecosystem can make a difference and add value. It was this way that Obama won the election for president in 2008, by letting everyone involved have access to their core strategy and data, and I am a firm believer that it is the most efficient way to also run a company.
With all team members aligned and knowing about possible business opportunities, the company cash flow, how much everyone is paid and what lies behind rewards for extraordinary performance, and you add autonomy to this, then you get the perfect recipe.
Everyone has the possibility to adapt to opportunities and that is the way that you can get everyone to move in the same direction.
I just love the way that Spotify has visualised this, which you can see in the example below.
When our values are challenged, what happens then? Over the years, when we have met such challenges, we take one step back and look at the situation in the bigger perspective. When challenged, it is our experience that we as a team become much more grateful for what we have built so far. And it has turned out, again and again, that when we stay true to our values we come out on the other side with a strong sense of doing the right thing. And that makes us stronger, not only on a personal level - but stronger as a team.
Is there a more efficient way to build company culture, than collectively being challenged to reflect upon the direction you are taking as a team and why you take that path?