When No One is Watching
Inspired by Dave Duffield, Marc Benioff, and Clayton Christensen
The famous UCLA basketball coach turned leadership luminary John Wooden once said, “The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”
Character is articulated through values. In most organizations, these end up as hollow platitudes that do little more than take up space on a wall near the HR department. This is a missed opportunity, particularly for a product team.
A product team should know what matters to them. These values form the basis of how they operate and help to make decisions when facing hard choices — and you often will. If you don’t know what matters, your odds of doing the right thing consistently will fall precipitously.
“Who you are is defined by the values you are willing to struggle for.” — Mark Manson
At PeopleSoft, co-founder Dave Duffield was known to wipe down the counter when he left the restroom — why would he do that? Do you think he would step over the stray paper towel on the floor? What does this say about him? About the type of company he wanted to create? What does he value?
We get hung up on process and practice, but underlying it all are values. The ‘Why’ we are doing something. Different values lead to different results and critically, articulation isn’t action. Values, even when codified, often go wrong because they are not animated through use.
“Here’s the thing about values: You have to use words to identify them, but they won’t create true value for you unless they turn into consistent behaviors.” ― Marc Benioff
In every situation, your underlying value system operates. The culture of your product team is the operating system — the fuel of your factory. It can either be a force to improve what you deliver or a ceiling you bump against. Values and behaviors must be actively developed, articulated and celebrated.
Clay Christensen, the late HBS professor reminds us, “Make no mistake: a culture happens, whether you want it to or not. Take a moment to reflect on your culture. The behaviors that should animate your values. Ask yourself,
Do you fix bugs when you have some free time?
Do you arrange meeting times to respect team members in different time zones?
In brainstorming, do you draw in quieter voices to ensure everyone is heard?
And, of course, do you step over the paper towel as you leave the restroom?
“Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it all the time.” — Clay Christensen
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Footnotes:
Clay Christensen is the author of the Innovator’s Dilemma. He was a business luminary and his insights will be sorely missed.