What are your values?
At MPOW we have had a fair amount of discussion about individual and team values this year, but it really wasn’t until M asked me what mine were that I came up with something that really guides my actions.
For work purposes the values I thought of were:
- dependability
- pragmatism
- learning
- self-reliance
- traditionalism (so I know what I am rejecting and why)
I wish I’d made more notes about why I chose those five; dependability, learning and self-reliance are pretty clear to me, but I’m not 100% sure why I chose “pragmatism” – did I mean “practical” or “down to earth”?
And as for “traditionalism”: if I want to reject things, it’s not really traditionalism, is it? Is there a better term? Iconoclasm? Not exactly. It’s difficult for me to express – its more a sense of wanting to know what the cultural morés are in whichever context I am in, knowing what they’re based on, and feeling confident to reject them if they don’t suit. I will ponder this some more. I think a big element of it comes from my identity as an immigrant. I have adopted aspects of the culture I live and work in, while still (consciously and unconsciously) maintaining other aspects of my other culture(s), and I always have this sense of being always in between. Bears more considering, perhaps. I’m also thinking about
Penny’s excellent post about cultural values. I’ll have to write more about this.
Oh, and what about the value that guides my life generally, and what the conversation with M helped me realise? Well, for me it turns out it is The Golden Rule – or “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
Reflecting on how I treat others and interact with them (and especially a few things that have happened over that past few weeks) I can see that I usually do follow this “rule”, which pleases me greatly. One example: I observed a traffic incident (no accident) a few weeks ago, in which a cyclist was injured. I gave my details as a witness. The insurance assessor came and saw me today and took my statement. When he thanked me for being willing to come forward, I said “Of course I would, I hope others would do the same for me.” I realised how deeply I believe that.
Do unto others.
this post written on the train using iPad mini and WordPress app. iPad mini is superb, small enuf that I can hold it in both hands and write using both thumbs
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