The Down Side of 'Adding Value'

The corporate world has gone mad and we have gone mad with it. A disease unfortunately has penetrated too many organizations. In the age of ‘adding value’, we have become destructive, combative, ‘value adders’. In our quest to ensure we are at the top of the heap, we have forgotten the core competencies of teamwork, collaboration and organizational focus. We have abandoned the notion of organizational relevance for “me relevance”. The interesting thing is that the root cause of this behavior is not arrogance it is fear. It is the fear that we will not measure up, which leads to not getting a raise, which leads to not having a job and ultimately leads to not supporting our families. Whew, that is pressure. While the productivity spurt that fear causes is real, it is not sustainable and is clearly unhealthy for companies and individuals.
The ‘value add’ era has created a combative environment where everything is a fight and folks come out with both barrels to solve every issue. Everything is serious, brainstorming sessions and meetings turn into WWIII and sharing an opinion brings the wrath of ages down upon you. It is no longer coming up with the best idea that is the motivation; it is how I can make Mary or Bob look incompetent, so I can look better. This approach is not the type of environment that fosters trust, creativity or collaboration all of which are necessary for long-term survival of an organization. I completely get it that a company must survive in an era of extreme competition, but is this way to do it. No.
How do we unwind this tightly wound ‘value add’ culture and flip the switch so that we have ‘value in’. ‘Value in’ is where turf is abandoned for the good of the organization and the free-flow of ideas is embedded in the culture. It is not an initiative. It is simply, the way it is. The mission of the company is to be an incubator of new ideas that are discussed, added to or abandoned when they don’t fit. Combat is replaced with high-spirited innovation. I am not saying abandon arguing. I like a good, productive argument or debate. It is the intention behind the debate that makes all the difference in the world. Intent will determine if you are in an incubation discussion where ideas percolate or a destructive discussion where the motivation is to squelch for a much more sinister myopic reason. Only one of these fosters long-term gain.
Start with a grass root effort to change the environment. Schedule an ‘incubator’ meeting instead of a staff meeting. Demonstrate to employees that there is a new ‘value’ in town and it is ‘value in’. Let them see that their ideas are not crushed, but enhanced. Let them see the new behaviors rewarded and old destructive behaviors discouraged. This small step may be the catalyst needed to repair what is now a gaping hole.