ords or short statements that act as central "hooks" to hang the key behavioral guidelines that shape everyone's actions.

But, as with any idealistic target, an even bigger problem with values is instilling them in the organization once they have been articulated. Many managers make a mockery of a potentially powerful exercise like values clarification because their aud

"The values gap is the largest single source of cynicism and skepticism in the workplace today." — Andrall Pearson, former president of PepsiCo.

Recognizing the need to become more "values-driven", many managers have developed statements of "core values", "management philosophies", "guiding principles", or "aspirations". While this is a start in the right direction, many of these statements produce a "high snicker factor" throughout their organizations. Team and organization members dutifully humor their managers by placing their left hand over their heart, raising their right hand, pledging commitment to the pretty words - and then going back to work.

During more than a decade of work with hundreds of organizations struggling to redefine the desired values at the center of the new culture, we have found two common causes of the values rhetoric-reality gap. First is the failure to get to a few core statements or words. Too often, values statements are a laundry list pledging to be everything to everybody. Motherhood, apple pie, kitchen sink -- managers throw it all in there. They declare a belief in all that's good. In one extreme case a utility handed out pocket-sized folders to its thousands of employees listing the organization's thirty-six values!

Anything more than three to four core values are no values. As with so many issues of strategy and culture, managers need to set priorities about what's really important to the organization. Core values are those few single words or short statements that act as central "hooks" to hang the key behavioral guidelines that shape everyone's actions.

But, as with any idealistic target, an even bigger problem with values is instilling them in the organization once they have been articulated. Many managers make a mockery of a potentially powerful exercise like values clarification because their audi

y of these statements produce a "high snicker factor" throughout their organizations. Team and organization members dutifully humor their managers by placing their left hand over their heart, raising their right hand, pledging commitment to the pretty words - and then going back to work.

During more than a decade of work with hundreds of organizations struggling to redefine the desired values at the center of the new culture, we have found two common causes of the values rhetoric-reality gap. First is the failure to get to a few core statements or words. Too often, values statements are a laundry list pledging to be everything to everybody. Motherhood, apple pie, kitchen sink -- managers throw it all in there. They declare a belief in all that's good. In one extreme case a utility handed out pocket-sized folders to its thousands of employees listing the organization's thirty-six values!

Anything more than three to four core values are no values. As with so many issues of strategy and culture, managers need to set priorities about what's really important to the organization. Core values are those few single words or short statements that act as central "hooks" to hang the key behavioral guidelines that shape everyone's actions.

But, as with any idealistic target, an even bigger problem with values is instilling them in the organization once they have been articulated. Many managers make a mockery of a potentially powerful exercise like values clarification because their aud

ine the desired values at the center of the new culture, we have found two common causes of the values rhetoric-reality gap. First is the failure to get to a few core statements or words. Too often, values statements are a laundry list pledging to be everything to everybody. Motherhood, apple pie, kitchen sink -- managers throw it all in there. They declare a belief in all that's good. In one extreme case a utility handed out pocket-sized folders to its thousands of employees listing the organization's thirty-six values!

Anything more than three to four core values are no values. As with so many issues of strategy and culture, managers need to set priorities about what's really important to the organization. Core values are those few single words or short statements that act as central "hooks" to hang the key behavioral guidelines that shape everyone's actions.

But, as with any idealistic target, an even bigger problem with values is instilling them in the organization once they have been articulated. Many managers make a mockery of a potentially powerful exercise like values clarification because their aud

t's good. In one extreme case a utility handed out pocket-sized folders to its thousands of employees listing the organization's thirty-six values!

Anything more than three to four core values are no values. As with so many issues of strategy and culture, managers need to set priorities about what's really important to the organization. Core values are those few single words or short statements that act as central "hooks" to hang the key behavioral guidelines that shape everyone's actions.

But, as with any idealistic target, an even bigger problem with values is instilling them in the organization once they have been articulated. Many managers make a mockery of a potentially powerful exercise like values clarification because their aud

ords or short statements that act as central "hooks" to hang the key behavioral guidelines that shape everyone's actions.

But, as with any idealistic target, an even bigger problem with values is instilling them in the organization once they have been articulated. Many managers make a mockery of a potentially powerful exercise like values clarification because their audio and isn't connected with their video. What managers do and who they are speaks so loudly team and organizational members can't hear what's being said.

Peanuts creator, Charles M. Schultz once observed, "There's a big difference between a bumper sticker and a philosophy". Here's how some managers have created "bumper sticker values" through their contradictory actions:

• During complaint handling training sessions, a vice president at one financial institution often told frontline servers to maintain a smile in their voice "even if the customer is a mooch."

• Many managers talk about the importance of customer service and doing what's best for the customer. Then at month, quarter, or year end, they push their sales force to load up customers or the distribution chain with product so they can pump up their sales figures. So much for "the customer always comes first."

• The president of a major retailing chain kept talking about integrity and trust. At the same time, he expressed frustration that store managers weren't "entrepreneurial enough" to keep extra merchandise that was shipped in error by external suppliers. "After all", he explained, "these companies are always jerking us around."

• Many people are fed up with management rhetoric about empowerment, involvement, trust, and teamwork. They're really not that gullible. They can easily look at the bureaucratic rules and policies, time clocks, call reports, executive perks and huge salary differences, second