Theory | James Dempsey Consulting

The theory behind my approach

Goals are the things people pursue every day through their actions, the things they are motivated to achieve, and the starting point for the work I do with organisations.

By understanding what your people value and what they set as their goals, we start to understand how they experience your organisation and why they behave as they do. Where behaviour is misaligned with your organisation's objectives - whether strategic goals or ensuring everyone measures up against principles of good conduct - understanding what people value and why provides the baseline for behavioural change.

I work with a model that divides values into four kinds, based on quadrants, shown in the diagram below.

Four Quadrants of Organisational Values.png

Personal Values: An individual or organisation focused on personal values will prize behaviour that shows the individual at their best, for example which demonstrates integrity or responsibility or creativity.

Interpersonal Values: A focus on interpersonal values is seen in organisations and individuals that are most concerned with how individuals interact with each other. Collaboration, respect, and empathy are examples of the kinds of behaviour found here.

Societal Values: Those that are focused on the good of the society and other broad social groups of which the organisation and its members are a part. Organisations with this focus will prize such things as sustainability or diversity and inclusion.

Commercial Values: Values that focus on the good of the organisation itself, understood narrowly as the furtherment of its commercial goals. An organisation focused on commercial values will pursue sales and profit, and also outcomes that lead to them, such as process efficiency

It is important to recognise that no one type of value is the 'right' kind, and there is not one that necessarily should be prioritised above the others. The right focus for any organisation at a particular time will depend on a whole range of factors particular to its context

However, it is nearly always true that an organisation that ignores one or more of these groups of values completely creates risks - risks that behaviours will ignore legitimate stakeholder interests and that lead to damage, whether regulatory, reputational, or commercial.