Monthly Archives: March 2012

What are values anyway?

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What are values?
Values are the motivational keys that cause people to choose to follow a particular person, path, goal, career. 
Think for a moment of the value that brought you to the work you do now. Were you motivated by curiosity? Prestige? Success? Financial reward? Security? Enterprise? Community? Service? Advance? There are many other values that may be your personal drivers.
Edgar Schein identifies 10 key values that a people have and the sort of associated goal that helps us understand the value:
Value
Description
Power    
The motivational goal of power values is the attainment of social status and prestige, and the control or dominance over people and resources.
Achievement
The primary goal of this type is personal success through demonstrated competence. Competence is evaluated in terms of what is valued by the system or organization in which the individual is located.
Hedonism
The motivational goal of this type of value is pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself. This value type is derived from physical needs and the pleasure associated with satisfying them.
Stimulation
The motivational goal of stimulation values is excitement, novelty, and challenge in life. This value type is derived from the need for variety and stimulation in order to maintain an optimal level of activation. Thrill seeking can be the result of strong stimulation needs.
Self-
Direction
The motivational goal of this value type is independent thought and action (for example, choosing, creating, exploring). Self-direction comes from the need for control and mastery along with the need for autonomy and independence.
Universalism
The motivational goal of universalism is the understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection of the welfare for all people and for nature.
Benevolence
The motivational goal of benevolent values is to preserve and enhance the welfare of people with whom one is in frequent personal contact. This is a concern for the welfare of others that is more narrowly defined than Universalism.
Tradition
The motivational goal of tradition values is respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that one’s culture or religion imposes on the individual. A traditional mode of behaviour becomes a symbol of the group’s solidarity and an expression of its unique worth and, hopefully, its survival.
Conformity
The motivational goal of this type is restraint of action, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms. It is derived from the requirement that individuals inhibit inclinations that might be socially disruptive in order for personal interaction and group functioning to run smoothly.
Security
 The motivational goal of this type is safety, harmony, and stability of society or relationships, and of self.

 

You will use the words that best describe your values for you – each will fall into one of Schein’s key values but you may not like the word
  • “I do this for fun” for example – would come under “Hedonism” – though I have yet to meet anyone who tells me, “well I do it because I’m a hedonist”.
  • “I like a challenge” could be about several: “Power”, “Achievement”, “Self-direction” or “Stimulation” – it would be what you mean by “challenge”.
What about money?
A great many people will consider that “money” is valuable to them, but in and of itself, money does not have value. Strictly speaking, any form of “money” is simply a promissory note or coin (or just a number on a bank statement). “Money” is a means of exchanging it for other things that are valuable. 
Each of us further has our own hierarchy of values. Values that are more important to us than other values.
Our order of values is our order of values. Just because I consider self-direction to be more important than universalism (for example) does not make my hierarchy wrong or right. We are not judging anyone’s values here. We just want to understand them.

What’s holding you back?

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Top 10 Cognitive Distortions:

Which of these do you do? Check the areas below that you might like to discuss with your coach.

  • All or Nothing Thinking: Seeing things as black-or-white, right-or-wrong wiith nothing inbetween. Essentially, if I’m not perfect then I’m a failure.
    • I didn’t finish writing that paper so it was a complete waste of time.
    • There’s no point in playing if I’m not 100% in shape. Ÿ They didn’t show, they’re completely unreliable!
  • Overgeneralization: Using words like always, never in relation to a single event or experience.
    • I’ll never get that promotion Ÿ She always does that…
  •  Minimising or Magnifying (Also Catastrophizing):Seeing things as dramatically more or less important than they actually are. Often creating a “catastrophe” that follows.
    • Because my boss publicly thanked her she’ll get that promotion, not me (even though I had a great performance review and just won an industry award).
    • I forgot that email! That means my boss won’t trust me again, I won’t get that raise and my wife will leave me.
  • “Shoulds”: Using “should”, “need to”, “must”, “ought to” to motivate oneself, then feeling guilty when you don’t follow through (or anger and resentment when someone else doesn’t follow through).
    • I should have got the painting done this weekend.
    • They ought to have been more considerate of my feelings, they should know that would upset me.
  • Labelling: Attaching a negative label to yourself or others following a single event.
    • I didn’t stand up to my co-worker, I’m such a wimp! ŸWhat an idiot, he couldn’t even see that coming!
  • Jumping to Conclusions:

    1) Mind-Reading: Making negative assumptions about how people see you without evidence or factual support.Your friend is preoccupied and you don’t bother to find out why. You’re thinking:

  • She thinks I’m exaggerating again or Ÿ He still hasn’t forgiven me for telling Fred about his illness.

2) Fortune Telling: Making negative predictions about the future without evidence or factual support

  • I won’t be able to sell my house and I’ll be stuck here (even though housing market is good).
  • No-one will understand.I won’t be invited back again (even though they are supportive friends).
  • Discounting the Positive: Not acknowledging the positive. Saying anyone could have done it or insisting that your positive actions, qualities or achievements don’t count…
    • That doesn’t count, anyone could have done it.
    • I’ve only cut back from smoking 40 cigarettes a day to 10. It doesn’t count because I’ve not fully given up yet.
  • Blame & Personalization: Blaming yourself when you weren’t entirely responsible or blaming other people and denying your role in the situation
    • If only I was younger, I would have got the job
    • If only I hadn’t said that, they wouldn’t have…
    • If only she hadn’t yelled at me, I wouldn’t have been angry and wouldn’t have had that car accident.
  • Emotional Reasoning: I feel, therefore I am. Assuming that a feeling is true – without digging deeper to see if this is accurate.
    • I feel such an idiot (it must be true). Ÿ I feel guilty (I must have done something wrong).
    • I feel really bad for yelling at my partner, I must be really selfish and inconsiderate.
  • Mental Filter: Allowing (dwelling on) one negative detail or fact to spoil our enjoyment, happiness, hope etc
    • You have a great evening and dinner at a restaurant with friends, but your chicken was undercooked and that spoiled the whole evening.