Why do we need to agree on underlying values and principles? The skeptic may argue agreeing on values and principles is window dressing or being overly idealistic. I see it differently…
Values and principles give us a foundation to base decisions on and to allow other people to project what our decision process would be in our absence.
For example, say as a leader I have an underlying value of work/life balance and this translates to the principle that I do not work long hours (10+ hours) consecutively because it makes my work/life balance get out of whack. Having identified the value and principle allows someone else to determine what I would do in a given situation…
I.e. a manager needs to determine if a team should work long hours for a month to hit a launch date - with an understanding of my values & principles they could project that I would not commit or be comfortable with that as a decision.
VUKA is a term I recently came across which was first used in the military to describe the fog of war. Situations where there was volatility, uncertainty, complexity or ambiguity.
During war soldiers are often uncertain of their own situation, uncertain of their own abilities and uncertain of the adversary intents. Having shared values & principles with their unit would allow them to operate and react faster.
