The 3 Power Values

How Commitment, Integrity and Transparency clear the roadblocks to performance

The key precept of this book is that it is the culture of an organisation that drives its performance - and that values drive the culture.

Gebler suggests that many organisational approaches to corporate values come at it from the wrong direction. He says that rather than trying to instil values in managers and employees who already understand perfectly well the behaviours required for success, leaders instead need to identify and remove the elements of their corporate culture that prevent employees from embodying these values.

Culture drives employee behaviour

The book is full of examples of companies where a weak or toxic culture has driven good people to do wrong things, citing for instance the 2010 BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. These illustrations show how higher standards by leaders bring out the best in others, and lower standards make it easier for people to rationalise unethical behaviours.

And by 'leaders', Gerber means anybody in a management role, however junior.

The 3 Power Values

The values that Gerber has identified as catalysts for a healthy and successful culture are listed below. The key to developing a strong culture is their practical alignment.

1. Integrity - links the walk (standards of behaviors) with the talk (mission and goals), building trust through consistency and predictability. Aligns goals and standards.
2. Commitment - links values to goals by creating ways for people to feel engaged and connected. Aligns principles and goals.
3. Transparency - creates an open environment where employees can express their values without fear. Aligns principles and standards.

The behavioural roadblocks to performance

In seeking to understand why cultures become weak, Gerber identifies what he calls the 3 roadblocks to performance. These are self-deception, rationalisation and disengagement. The power values define the steps an organisation has to take to ensure a culture that will not support these roadblocks. So the elements of the culture that need to be aligned are:

1. The collective principles and beliefs (demonstrated in integrity)
2. The collective mission and goals (demonstrated by commitment)
3. The collective standards of behaviour (demonstrated through transparency)

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.