Chapter 10

Why our values and behaviours (our consciousness) must evolve to support change

Richard Barrett has written extensively on the subjects of values, behaviours and culture. His organisation, the Barrett Values Centre, has produced some powerful tools to take stock of the values in any system: organisation, community, team, individual, nation or even humanity. In this chapter we ask to what extent are the values of these entities likely to support the delivery of the SDGs and, importantly, what can be done about it. We stress the need to be methodical about cultural change at all levels and provide links to methods we know will work. Incidentally, please note that the PrimeFocus model introduced earlier uses the word “character” instead of culture, reflecting the fact that when values are played out at the personal level, the word “culture” isn’t commonly used.

Case study 10.1: Culture change in the UK electricity industry

In the 1990s, I was involved in some pretty major change programmes as the UK electricity industry moved from public to private sector. At one point I was programme manager for an initiative called the Competitive Metering Programme (CMP) for Yorkshire Electricity, one of the then principal electricity supply and distribution companies. We had twenty-one projects in our programme and were very proud of the progress we were making. We collaborated with two other electricity companies in the development of new software solutions that would allow electricity meters to be read by different companies from those that supplied and distributed the power.

Like so many organisations in technical industries, we were very good at sorting out all the technical, logical and rational aspects of change. We had great plans, systems and processes. We were clinical in our documentation and resolution of issues, risks and changes and we had some great minds working on the computer and communications systems and associated software.

At one point, due to the national importance of these changes, our programme was audited by external consultants. We passed with flying colours on all aspects of change except one. That was the measurement and management of the culture associated with the change. The consultants pointed out that the culture required to run the new privatised and competitive industry we were forming would be very different to the one we had all known during our nationalised era.

This was all new territory for me. I knew very little about culture and was totally unaware that it was something that could be measured and managed systematically. I consulted with those who knew more about the topic than anyone in our team and, in the end, it was agreed that I should travel to Detroit in the US and become accredited as a practitioner with an organisation called Human Synergistics, which specialised in cultural change and leadership development.

This was a first step in me becoming increasingly interested in leadership and organisational change – and ultimately in the global change associated with sustainability.

Measuring human values in a system

Since becoming accredited with Human Synergistics, I have explored other methods that support cultural change. One that impressed me greatly was that offered by the Barrett Values Centre (BVC). Richard Barrett developed his system for values measurement in a similar fashion to Abraham Maslow who described human needs in the form of a hierarchy as shown in Chapter 6 where we explored the relationship between human needs and the purpose of life.

Barrett extrapolated this thinking and translated it into the language of values. He provided a catalogue of human values which he allocated to his “seven levels of consciousness” framework as shown in Figure 10.1. Note the similarity between the bottom half of Barrett’s model and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The Barrett method is now well-established globally and has been used to diagnose the values of individuals, teams, organisations and even nations. If you’re interested, BVC offers a free Personal Values Assessment or PVA at its website which will gives you a full computer-generated report on your personal values together with implications and suggestions for personal development. It is a great initial step to sampling the methodology before using it on a larger scale, such as a team, organisation, community or nation.

Values and sustainable development

What has all this got to do with the SDGs? Well everything actually. As I learned in the 1990s, change programmes can fail miserably if we don’t consider the cultural aspects of change. And the SDGs represent perhaps the most ambitious change programme ever signed off by world leaders.

Figure 10.1Barrett’s seven levels of consciousness

Source: with kind permission of Barrett Values Centre

When I’m working with an organisation on a change programme, I strongly advocate for the use of the Barrett method. Using a Company Values Assessment or CVA, I recommend that the organisation seeks data on three aspects:

1. 1 What are the values brought to the organisation by those involved in the change? Ideally I recommend that this includes all stakeholder groups, such as customers, suppliers and staff.
2. 2 What are the values that these people witness being lived out in the organisation right now? This data represents the current culture or “the way things are done around here”.
3. 3 What are the values these people would like to see in support of the particular change the organisation is setting out to achieve? This would be the target culture.

This information is invaluable and can be “cut” to find out how it varies between stakeholder groups or any other relevant criteria, such as geography or role-type.

Having the data helps those involved to see at a glance the required culture and the transition that needs to be made. It also helps leaders to understand the behavioural change that they need to make to be better able to “show the way”.

This type of cultural change programme can be a very positive experience for those involved. The target culture is nearly always a more positive scenario than that experienced currently. And it often more closely resembles the values brought to the change by individuals, meaning that they can authentically be part of the solution.

National Values Assessments (NVAs)

In considering the SDGs, I encourage everyone involved to take a look at the BVC National Values Assessment Resource Guide produced at the time of the 6th National Values Coalition Meeting 26–27 September 2016 in Toronto, Canada. The data in this report show unquestionably (in my mind) that people care deeply about the topics reflected in the SDGs.

Values that appear frequently in the desired futures of many nations include sustainability, environment, community, care for the elderly, future generations and so on. By the way, for most of the countries surveyed, these values are also sadly lacking in the perceived current cultures.

The data in the National Values Surveys provide both hope and concern. Hope lies in the fact that the values held by people in these nations are likely to support the delivery of the SDGs. Hope also lies in the fact that people want to see values consistent with the SDGs in the future. The concern is that they don’t see these values featuring in the way society operates or is governed right now. In a nutshell, the perceived current culture in most nations is far from positive with values such as bureaucracy, conflict, aggression, blame and poverty featuring prominently. One notable exception is that of Bhutan where the current culture is extremely positive and where values that fit well with the SDGs such as environmental protection, nature conservancy and social justice appear in the top ten.

Another factor that is playing out in all this is that what people perceive isn’t always the truth. In the cultural data, people may sense factors like fear and violence and yet statistical data shows that we live in a more peaceful world than has ever existed before. Despite the obvious and terrible violence being played out in certain parts of the world, which is clearly a matter worthy of global attention, the truth is that death due to war and terrorism has been reducing for many years and is broadly at an all-time low.

Again, with notable exceptions, people are healthier, live longer and are wealthier, especially in the so-called developed world. Statistics also show that the developing world is catching up rapidly.

Should we believe what we read in the newspapers?

We might speculate that the media and those with vested interests who are practicing fear-mongering are intent on creating a world of fear because it sells advertising or generally suits personal or corporate purposes to do so. Or we might reasonably argue that it is indeed entirely appropriate that we shine the spotlight on the ills of the world in order to raise the level of urgency to sort it out.

One challenge is that of short-term versus long-term perspectives. The spotlight shone by the world media, especially the “popular press”, tends to focus on the immediate and obviously urgent. Every day we witness scenes of violence and terrorism. The scenes are awful despite the long-term overall trend of improvement. Sadly other factors don’t get the attention they deserve. Climate change rarely hits the headlines and yet it is the one factor that has the capacity to “finish us all off” if we don’t address it.

So what is to be done? My belief is we need strength of leadership in all quarters to move with urgency on the delivery of all the goals. Our progress needs to be systematic and on all fronts. Leadership, therefore, needs to play out in every context, personal, family, community, corporation, government, nations, international and global.

We really should be encouraged by the positive values held by the people in the world and their desire to see a better future. They need encouragement that we are, despite the news broadcasts, making progress. They need to know that every single action in support of the SDGs really matters and they need to share and celebrate such progress so that it becomes infectious and encourages others to do the same.

It seems to me that a conscious focus on values at all levels of society is going to be good for delivering the sustainability agenda. Even without the formal establishment of the SDGs, the National Values Assessments carried out by the Barrett Values Centre demonstrate that people throughout the world care about the same things that the sustainability agenda is focused on.

Therefore, the more such values assessments are undertaken and people are involved in setting the agenda for change, the more likely we are to deliver on the SDGs.

I have had several inspiring conversations with Phil Clothier at Barrett Values Centre regarding our focus when we look at the National Values Assessments. If we focus on the current cultures in countries, we might tend to despair at the negativity in the system. If, however, we look at the personal values brought by citizens to the same countries, we can see and measure the energy for change. This is, I believe, exactly the same phenomenon as when I ask any audience what world they’d like to bequeath to future generations and they describe, time and time again, a world that is totally aligned to the SDGs.

Activity 10.1: Personal Values Assessment

Search the Internet for the Barrett Values Centre PVA and complete the free assessment of your values. When you receive your personal report, make a note below of any actions you’d like to commit to in order to live your values more fully. Make a note also about which of the SDGs would be supported by simply being more of who you are.

Having completed the above exercise, consider the power of advocating a values assessment for an organisation you are part of. A Company Values Assessment (CVA) will help your organisation to be a more authentic and successful contributor to society, especially if this is done in conjunction with exploring the organisation’s purpose in the wider world context.

Guest contribution from Phil Clothier, CEO of Barrett Values Centre

I truly believe that the Barrett method is key to transformation in support of delivering the SDGs. As I was completing this book, I had the good fortune to catch up with Phil Clothier for one of our “SDG catch-ups”. I asked him to say a few words about his take on the goals and the role of values in their delivery:

Contribution from Phil Clothier: shared values are a powerful source for personal and societal transformation

The UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development first came on my radar in early 2015. I knew from the first moment that this was an opportunity for humanity to work together to create the life conditions so that everyone on earth has the possibility to experience well-being, happiness and peace. It was also clear to me that this is a journey with the potential to liberate our core human values and bring them to conscious awareness in our hearts, minds, families, workplaces, communities and nations.

As the CEO of Barrett Values Centre, I know that I am in a very privileged position. Yes, I am very aware of the challenges and crises facing humanity and the planet but I also regularly hear stories from around the world from individuals, groups, organisations and nations where people are taking steps to make a difference and in their own special way, bringing the ambition of the Global Goals to life.

It doesn’t matter what race, colour, gender we are, we are all human beings and values stand at the centre of our needs, fears and motivations for action. At every moment, whether we are conscious of our values or not, we are making decisions based on our needs and values.

We all have needs and if these are being met, we will feel positive emotions such as a sense of contentment, fulfilment and happiness. If the needs are not being met we feel negative emotions such as fear, anger, sadness or disappointment. The simple truth is that we value what we need. Needs fall into two main categories, basic needs and growth needs.

Basic needs

A basic need is something that is important to get, have or experience in order to feel physically or emotionally safe. You feel anxious or fearful when these needs are not met because they are vital for your physical and emotional well-being. Once your basic needs are fulfilled you no longer pay much attention to them.

Growth needs

A growth need is something that enables you to feel a sense of internal alignment with who you are. Once our basic needs are met we start to connect with our sense of purpose and meaning in life and find ways to share our skills, gifts and talents with others. Often a greater sense of care and compassion will arise that shifts our focus into relieving the suffering of others. When you are able to satisfy your growth needs, they don’t go away; they arouse deeper levels of commitment and the joy of the soul in leading a purpose driven life.

The chart below (see Figure 10.2) shows our basic and growth needs and values mapped against the Barrett 7 Levels of Consciousness Model. It also maps the Global Goals that will help address the needs at each level.

The current reality is that the majority of the world’s population still live without their basic survival needs being met and life is a constant struggle. However, just having enough money and material wealth is no guarantee of happiness and fulfilment either. Many people in the developed world live with much fear, stress, unhealthy diets and very poor quality of life.

The good news is that the world is waking up and more people are becoming aware of their values and putting them into action in daily life. As they start to make decisions based on their values, they focus on what is most important (basic and growth needs) and this makes a positive difference in their life and for the people they influence and touch at home and at work. We know that becoming conscious of our values and putting them into daily decision making makes a significant positive difference to quality of life.

In 2012, I had the realisation that we at Barrett Values Centre could make a significant contribution by creating a Personal Values Assessment. Later that year we launched this assessment and made it available to everyone on earth, free of charge. The intention is to help people explore their values and become aware of what is most important and what might be holding them back from fully living them. I have heard many stories about how this opens a doorway in people’s lives to a whole new understanding of deep priorities and motivations. It only takes a few minutes to take a Personal Values Assessment and you will be sent your own report in an email. If you find it valuable, please share it with family, friends and colleagues. www.valuescentre.com/pva

Figure 10.2Seven levels of consciousness and the SDGs

Source: with kind permission of Barrett Values Centre

Figure 10.3Personal values

Source: with kind permission of Barrett Values Centre

At the time this book was written, we had over 400,000 Personal Values Assessment responses from people in over one hundred nations. Here is the global top 10 personal values (in order of the number of people who picked them). (See Figure 10.3.)

This shows me a world where positive and fun loving people care deeply for each other and have a commitment to make a positive contribution to others through continuous learning and creativity.

Another reason I feel so blessed to be doing this work is that I have seen the positive impact that comes from personal, team, organisational and societal transformation. When people align around an inspiring purpose and live a shared set of values, seemingly impossible feats can be accomplished with ease. Yes it can be challenging and a little scary but there is nothing as powerful as a group of people acting with purpose and passion.

Chapter reflection

Score the following statements out of ten where:

• 0 = not at all
• 2 = a little
• 4 = moderately
• 6 = mainly
• 8 = significantly
• 10 = completely