Values 2.0: The difference between Values and Value added

Is there a difference between values and value added?  Let's define them.

Value: a measurement of impact or benefit. For example, I hear often the phrase "value added" which means that the client is receiving more than what they expected. There is a higher level of impact or benefit.  The value can be a Return-On-Investment (ROI) figure. Or it can be something less quantitative, more qualitative.  In those instances, the measure is based on an idea of value. Most likely that idea is what we would call a value.

Values: An idea that defines meaning. Typically we'd see values as those ideas that point to a purpose or a standard.  Values unify when shared, divide when not. Values create culture. Values guide culture, build trust in relationships, and strengthen a group of people to do the impossible.

For example, you are sitting in a meeting and a cell phone rings. The person across the table answers it, speaks for a minute, laughs out loud, and hangs up. No comment. No apology. Just acts as if nothing happened. This typical experience may be widely accepted, but it is also rude. The judgment that he was rude is based on values that govern the social relationships of people. Typically we call it etiquette.  Those values are ideas about what is appropriate behavior in a meeting. The values of respect and courtesy demand some sort of accommodation to the ever present cell phone. What is more important the cell phone call or the meeting? That judgment is based on what you value, and what you value is based on ideas of meaning.

(*Note: Why can't cell phone manufacturers include a out of office button like email programs do?)

Values are the ideological foundation of human interaction. They are the fundamental beliefs that create a culture, and as we all know every organization is run by a prescribed culture. Ask a GE person or a Proctor&Gamble person about their culture, and they can describe values that govern how they work together.  Read Jim Collins and Jerry Porras' book Built To Last and you'll get a clear idea of the relation of values to a corporate culture.

If you want to provide value-added products and services, ask yourself, "What values am I utilizing to increase my value-added impact?"

HT: TVM for the cell phone story