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TL/DR:Your values are on the wall, the website, and laminated cards. But nobody's following them. It’s not because people don't care but because abstract words can't solve real dilemmas. Culture doesn't exist until it helps people choose between two right answers.
(3-minute read)
Your values on the wall and on your homepage say things like "Integrity. Respect. Excellence."
Last Tuesday, your head of performance heard rumours about a star player's injury. Staff are asking questions. Media are sniffing around.
Telling them the full truth might cause panic and affect preparation.
Not telling them might destroy trust and credibility.
Both choices have integrity. Both show respect. Both pursue excellence.
So which one is "the culture"?
Just Decoration
Reed Hastings wrote in "No Rules Rules" that Netflix went through seven versions of their culture deck before the penny dropped on something crucial.
Values written as virtues are useless. Values written as behaviours are everything.
They stopped saying "we value honesty" and started saying "we practice radical transparency, even when it's uncomfortable."
Can you see the difference? One is aspiration. The other is instruction.
Most organisations have the aspiration version. Words on walls that sound important but provide zero guidance when the pressure hits.
And. As you well know, the pressure always hits.
When Values Collide
Leaders generally miss something important: Culture breaks down not when people ignore values, but when values conflict with each other.
For example, your sporting director faces a decision. A veteran player isn't performing all that well right now but has given everything to the club for a decade.
Your values say both "Excellence" and "Loyalty."
Which one wins?
Without clear guidance, personal preference takes over. The decision becomes about the leader's comfort zone, not the culture's operating system.
Ray Dalio faced this at Bridgewater. His solution wasn't better values, it was radical specificity about what happens when principles clash. He documented actual decisions and the reasoning behind them.
So he jettisoned "we value transparency" and went with “when there's bad news, we share it immediately, even if it creates short-term discomfort, because long-term trust matters more."
So he moved from a value statement toward a behavioural decision framework.
The Real Test
Culture isn't tested when everyone agrees…bit in the grey zones.
For example, your academy coach sees a talented player treating teammates poorly.
"Respect" says address it immediately.
"Excellence" says maybe tolerate it if performance justifies it.
"Team First" says remove the player.
"Development" says this is a teaching moment.
Four values. Four different directions. Zero clarity about which way to turn.
In his book “The Advantage”, Patrick Lencioni calls this the "values vagueness trap". Organisations that list beautiful values but don't define them operationally end up with culture by accident, not by design.
Why This Matters
Sports clubs and business organisations are facing unprecedented complexity. Financial pressures. Media scrutiny. Generational shifts. Mental health awareness. Performance demands. The list goes on and on.
Every one of these creates dilemmas where multiple "right" answers exist.
If your culture is just words on a wall, your people are navigating these dilemmas alone. Making it up. Guessing what you'd want them to do.
Is that culture? Or chaos with a mission statement?
Three Signs Your Values Are Just Decoration
#1: People can't explain what your values mean in practice
Ask someone: "What does 'Respect' mean when you're deciding whether to challenge a senior leader's idea in a meeting?"
If they hesitate or give a generic answer, your values just aren't operational.
#2: Different people interpret the same value differently
Ask five people and get five different definitions of what "Excellence" is. Again, that's not culture but just a word everyone likes to bandy about.
#3: Your hardest decisions aren't easier because of your values
If your values don't help you choose when both paths seem right, they're not doing their job.
What This Series Will Do
Over the next three weeks, we're breaking down how teams and companies build culture that actually guides behaviour.
Part 1 (today): Why values as virtues don't work Part 2 (next week): What culture actually is and how dilemmas reveal it Part 3 (final week): How to build a behavioural operating system, not a poster.
Culture is a complex topic and so, of course, this series isn't the complete playbook; culture work is deep, context-specific, and takes time.
My aim with these newsletters is to you a different lens. There are so many approaches to building and living culture that are ‘copy and paste’ - to the extent that most people now don’t quite know what to copy and paste! I want to offer a perspective that helps you see why your current approach might be creating the appearance of culture without the reality of it.
The Question to Ask This Week
Time to do some homework to make some progress on this matter.
Look at your team or company stated values. Pick one.
Ask, "What does this value tell us to do when it conflicts with another value we hold?"
If you can't answer specifically, you have decoration and tick-box, not culture guidance.
Culture doesn't exist in the words you choose. It exists in which way you turn when different paths look equally right.
We’ll pick this up next week by looking at the three types of dilemmas every team and company faces. Importantly, we’ll also examine why your culture needs different operating systems for each.
Footnote - If you're seeing that your culture might be more aspirational than operational, you're not alone. The gap between stated values and actual behavioural guidance is one of the most common, and costly, leadership challenges. Building a real culture operating system requires going deeper than most organizations are willing to go. Sometimes the smartest move is working with someone who's helped other leaders translate their values into decisions that people can actually follow.
Watch this 1-minute 'Leadership Habit' Short...
What's causing you to feel stuck? Maybe looking for perfect information?
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