World Values Day – Values for the Future
World Values Day – Values for the Future
It’s #WorldValuesDay and this year the theme is ‘Values for the Future’. Here are some thoughts on where our values come from, how they interact with collective values (such as workplace values), and what happens when values conflict with one another. We’ll also briefly touch on how generational values might contribute to cultural shifts, and whether we will eventually need to re-rank our values to save the world.
Where our Values Come From
We might think of them as an innate part of our personalities, but as usual the answer is a bit more complicated. Our values can be inherited from our families, acquired through our experiences – and interestingly ,some might have been either encouraged or suppressed by agents of social control.
Organisational vs Personal values
It’s usual now for organisations to have collective values to which employees are expected to subscribe. Perhaps we hope to recruit people whose values are a perfect match, or perhaps we hope exposure to shared values will strengthen an employee’s complementary personal values. There’s also evidence of that working the other way round. The shifting values of a new generation are changing expectations about how we work and forcing a wider cultural shift.
What happens when our personal values conflict with our environment? I’m not just thinking about obvious examples like profit vs benevolence but also when values hold a bit more equal weight – like honesty vs loyalty. When we experience a values conflict it feels uncomfortable.
Values for the Future
Schwartz has an interesting model which demonstrates how values can be categorised and ranked. Some of our values are anxiety based, some are about preventing loss, some are about self-promotion or gain and some are linked to our humanity and desire for a better world. We can see here potential friction between benevolent values and values to linked to hedonism or self enhancement, and so we (subconsciously) rank them in order to mitigate our discomfort.
For example, I love connecting with nature, I also love overseas travel which involves getting on planes. At the moment I prioritise my value of adventure – feel guilty about it, but still do it. Most of us probably do care about the pain and suffering of others but also care about their own safety, comfort and pleasure and that of those they love.
What values do you think we need more of for a future in which can all thrive?
Which of your personal values feel most important for the kind of future you want to help to create?
Do you have any values that may conflict with one another? How do you overcome this?
Amy X
More on Values here
