Homework

In Week 2 you will explore the concept of values

Prior to this it would be useful to keep a diary of how you are spending your
time between now and Week 2. If you are unable to do a whole week then
what does a typical working day look like? Think about both work tasks and
home life and other activities you do. What does a typical week & weekend
look like? Just note down the activities and time spent on them, it doesn’t
have to take too long.

As part of Week 2 we will look at identifying what your values are and how
your time diary links to this.

Discuss below:
What do you spend most of your time doing?

Aims for week 2

The week ahead
This week we will be looking at values and are joined by Jay Blithe,
Community Development Leader at the Barrett Values Centre.

In week 1, values were mentioned as being ‘the things you believe are
important in the way you live and work’.

These are an important part of what drives your ethical behaviour and this
week we will have two interviews with Jay Blithe. The first is explaining
what values are, why they are important and how they link to ethics. You will
then take a questionnaire to identify your personal values. The second
interview will be discussing aggregate data about values held by people who
work in construction all around the world.
Discuss below: have you ever identified you personal values before & does
this interest you?
What values are & how they link to ethics
During week 2 we will be looking at what values are, how they impact on ethics and ways of
identifying your own personal values.

What are values?

What drives your moral compass?
Part of understanding what drives your moral compass is knowing who
you really are. Ethics in week one was described as, “who you are when
no-one is looking”. We also broke down the layers that make us who we
are including childhood upbringing, culture, beliefs and values.

Let’s look at values in greater detail.

First of all, like ethics, when was the last time you had a conversation about
values, if ever? Are you aware of what yours, your family’s, your friends or
your work colleague’s values are? Discuss below this article after reading.

Values are, in essence what’s important to you but they are also what
motivates your behaviour. They stem from a need or a void, & that need or
void will motivate you to fulfil it which will then drive your behaviours and
your actions.

Your values are formed through your childhood and influenced by your
upbringing and culture. Different people value different things & this can
change as you get older, the hierarchy of that value can also change. For
example, when you are a teenager, friendship will likely be high on your list
of values, however, as you get older this could be replaced by family if you
have children etc. Core values will likely remain the same throughout your
life.

Values can be positive such as fairness, honesty, creativity, challenge,

communication, freedom. They can also be negative such as, control,
aggressiveness, manipulation, greed and blame.

One of the first researchers to make the link between needs, values and
motivation was the philosopher Abraham Maslow (1908-70). He identified
two types of needs:

1. Basic needs – including survival, relationships and self-esteem,

something that is important to get, have or have more of to feel safe,
happy and comfortable in your existing physical and social
environment.
2. Growth needs – something you would like to have in order to feel a
sense of internal alignment such as finding meaning and purpose in life,
freedom and independence, making a difference.

“The amount of attention we give to satisfying a specific set of needs such as

our survival, relationship or self-esteem needs, depends on three main
factors: The stage we have reached in our psychological development; the life
circumstances we were born into or which we are currently experiencing; and
the situation in which we find ourselves at a specific moment in time”
(Barrett 2014)

As children we value safety and protection; as teenagers and young adults we

value looking good and recognition; as a single person pursuing a career, we
value autonomy and continuous learning; as a team leader or supervisor we
value trust; as an evolved mature professional, we value making a difference;
and as a leader we value leaving a legacy.

It is also worth noting that as the generations evolve, young people

(Generation Y and Generation Z) value different things and have different
needs based on the world they are growing up in, such as the recession,
Brexit, smart phone/social media culture which will all be influencing their
values.

Your personal values are at the core of who you are, what you believe in,
your self-worth and how you behave. Can you think of a time when you were
in conflict with someone and add to the discussion below? Chances are they
had ‘pushed a button’ relating to one of your values.

It can’t be known how a person is going to behave based on their values

alone. Being ethical is about how you live your values. Two people may have
the same values but they may live them in very different ways:

For example, two athletes will have a high priority value of achievement and
success. One will take illegal performance enhancing drugs to boost their
chances of success the other won’t.

Which brings us back to your moral compass or what influences your ethical
stance. This is childhood upbringing, beliefs, culture, later life experiences
including codes of conduct, social norms and being a member of a
professional body as well as talking about ethical dilemmas.

Comment below on:

Are you aware of what yours, your family’s, your friends or your work
colleague’s values are? How do values link with ethics?
Interview with the Barrett Values Centre
on how you identify your values
Personal values

“People will naturally act in accordance with their own true highest values.
They will spend money on what they truly value, they will spend time in
ways that reflect what is most important to them. If you want to know why
you are not doing something you think you should, or why you can’t stop
doing something you think you shouldn’t the answer is you are inevitably
going to do what you truly value most” (Demartini 2013)

There are a number of different ways you can identify what your values
are. You’ll identify them in the next steps.

Values are the things that are important to us. They're the things that guide us They're the things
that help us make choices in life. We have values which may change throughout life as our needs
change throughout life, as we go through different stages of life but we also have core values.
These tend to be formed very early in life. They may be themes that show up as our character
thoughout life and they're formed from what's essential and unique about ourselves and our very
early life experiences and so values on their own in purest essence are our motivation or your
energetic aspirations if you will.

What makes them show up in the world is the behaviours that other people see is when we
observe things in the world and we react to that based on our beliefs and the way we think things
should be that then generates our feelings and our thoughts and turns into what we do, what we
decide and the actions that we have in the world. How do values and ethics link together because
obviously the focus of this course is around ethics, how will the two link together?
OK ethics is the study of what's the rights and wrongs of a situation and we tend to have a set of,
a code of practice or a body of knowledge that we use as a guide for ethical behaviour and what I
would say about that is it's a code and a right and wrong, it's not necessarily what's going to
motivate behaviour so to illustrate my point we all know that smoking is bad for us but the
choice to not do it comes from a different motivation. It comes from.. .
If we want to change behaviour and we're talking about what's ethical in an industry we want to
change behaviour in line with those ethical guidelines we do need to get the conversation down
to what are the values that we're bringing to life? and then we'll find from that the actual human
motivation to act in line with the code of ethics. So I've got a simple question for you. How do
you actually define what your own personal values are?
I may have a value to be hard working I may have a work ethic, a criminal may have a value to
work as little as possible for most gain Right, so, but that's their motivation, Yep, so that the
values themselves are not necessarily always going to lead to a healthy workplace culture or an
ethical decision in business. In business the question is; 'What values matter most to the people
who are here and are congruent with the business vision and mission that we can bring to life
together so that the people can be most fulfilled in the workplace and and the organisation can be
sustainable and resilient because it's acting in a way that's ethical?'
OK so there's a dialogue to be had about what are the right values to bring to life in this
community. OK how do you actually identify what your values are? Great question because we
waltz through life reacting to things with emotion and passion and not necessarily being
conscious of what the values are. that are really being triggered about what happens around us.
So things we can do to become more aware of our own values are to, if you've got access to it
which people listening to this will have access to, surveys There are quite a few organisations in
the world and I'm from one of them that offer surveys but there's more than there's the Barrett
Values Centre, there's Human Synergistics, there's Minessence there's other organisations where
you can go to online and take a survey that will give you a report and will help you understand
your values but if you don't have access to that the other sorts of things I would suggest is either
in a coaching conversation or in perhaps, writing a journal by yourself Ask exploring questions
so either you're listening to yourself through writing to yourself or you're being listened to by
someone who's mirroring it back to you Ask questions such as; 'What do I spend my time doing?'
and keep maybe a time diary for a week then to look at the proportion of activity that is spent on
home and family or work and look for the themes in where you're spending your time. and then
ask, 'What does that say I value? 'What's showing up as important to me because I give it time?'
and then interestingly to ask yourself 'How do I feel about that?' because sometimes you're
spending time on things on not your top values and actually you're feeling unhappy in life
because your balance is out. But a time journal can help you get to a point where you can witness
for yourself 'What am I doing?' And then 'how do I feel about that?'
and that will help you narrow it down what is important to you I think those are great ways of
starting to think about what your values are. What we're actually to do is just take a break from
this interview now and we're going to get people on the course to actually do the survey that's
online and actually look at identifying what their values are.
https://survey.valuescentre.com/survey.html?id=OE9gsROQfbOfogy3ZtRKES1o1p9Vs5Bj
linku per vleresimin e vlerave personale.

Does your time reflect your values?

The second method of identifying your values is a time diary
At the end of week 1 you were asked to record how you are spending
your time for a week, keeping track of what you are doing and when.
Review this now and comment below on:

How much time a day are you spending at work? Are you bringing work
home with you in the evenings and at weekends?
Do you have time to do the things you enjoy doing on a weekly basis?
Logging your time in this way can reveal what you aren’t doing. If you aren’t
spending the quality time with your family and friends doing the things that
are important to you then that can give an indication of what you value in
life.

The second method isn’t a requirement for the course but could be very
enlightening.

The Six Modes of DecisionMaking By Richard Barrett The process of decision-making There
are four stages involved in decision-making—data gathering, information processing, meaning-
making, and decision-making, and three possible outcomes—a reaction, a response or guidance
that leads us into a process of reflection. The four stages and three responses are shown
diagrammatically in Figure 1, together with six modes of decision-making. Figure 1 The four
stages of decision-making three responses and six modes of decisionmaking Stage 1: Data
gathering We gather data from our external environment through our senses; our eyes, ears, nose,
mouth, and skin (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling). The information we gather
comes from our physical environment and arrives at the sense organs of our physical bodies as
electromagnetic waves of information. Our eyes don’t see colours; they sense different
frequencies of light vibration. Our ears don’t hear sounds; they 2 | Page sense different
frequencies of sound vibration, etc. These multiple streams of data in the form of energy quanta
are sent to the brain for processing. Stage 2: Information processing The brain assembles and
synthesizes the data from the five senses into information patterns that can be recognized by the
mind. What we see, hear, smell, taste, or feel is not the data that is pouring in through our senses,
nor the information patterns produced by the brain, but the mind’s abstraction of this
information. The mind gives form to the information patterns. Stage 3: Meaning-making The
information pattern produced by the brain is used by the body-mind, ego-mind, and soul-mind, to
search for a memory (body, ego or soul memory) that contains a similar pattern. When a similar
pattern is found, meaning is ascribed to the situation, and a reaction, response, or guidance
leading to reflection is initiated. If there are no matching memories then the mind carries out a
“fuzzy” search in the ego mind to find a pattern that has similar characteristics (but not precisely
the same) as the one currently being experienced. When a pattern is found, we use logic (links to
other patterns that we hold in our mind) to assign a meaning to the situation. Since the sense
organs are directly linked to the brain, which itself is part of the body, the information packages
are first responded to by the body-mind—action precedes thought; then by the ego-mind—action
precedes or follows thought; and, then by the soul-mind—action follows thought, as shown in
Figure 2. Figure 2 Progression in meaning-making Stage 4: Decision-making Once meaning-
making has been done, the body-mind will react to a situation based on instincts; the ego-mind
will react or respond to a situation based on subconscious beliefs or conscious beliefs, and the
soul-mind will reflect on the intuitive or inspirational guidance it is receiving and then affirm or
reorient its position. 3 | Page Thus, as human beings we have three minds making decisions
about getting our needs met; we have a two sets of body needs (internal stability and external
equilibrium), seven levels of ego/soul needs (internal stability of the ego and soul mind); and six
ways in which we make decisions. See Table 1. Levels of Consciousness Ego-mind Soul-mind 7
Service Inspiration Intuition Values 6 Making a difference 5 Internal cohesion 4 Transformation
Conscious beliefs Subconscious beliefs 3 Self-esteem 2 Relationships 1 Survival Body-mind1
Instincts Table 1 Modes of decision-making and levels of consciousness Six modes of decision-
making The six modes of decision-making are described in detail in the following paragraphs.
Instinct-based decision-making Instinct-based decision-making takes place at the atomic/cellular
level, because the actions that arise are based on learned DNA responses, principally associated
with issues of survival. For example, babies instinctively know how to suckle; how to cry when
their needs are not being met; and how to smile so they can get the attention they need. No one
taught them how to do this. It is encoded in their DNA. In adult life, instinct-based decision-
making kicks in to help us survive and avoid dangerous situations. It is also at the root of the
fight or flight response common to all animals. In certain situations, our instincts may cause us to
put our life at risk in order to the save the life of another. Instincts are the principal mode of
decision-making found in all creatures. The main features of instinct-based decision-making are:
• Actions always precede thought—there is no pause for reflection between making meaning of a
situation, and decision-making. 1 In this table I have specifically separated out the physiological
needs of the body from the seven levels of consciousness model. In the original derivation of the
model, I included these needs at the survival level of consciousness. 4 | Page • The decisions that
are made are always based on past experiences—what our species history has taught us about
how to survive and keep safe. These instructions are encoded in the cellular memory of our
DNA. • We are not consciously in control of our words, actions and behaviours. They are in
control of us. Instinct based-decision is a faculty of the body-mind. The body-mind is where we
keep the “institutionalised” DNA memories that keep our physical body safe and secure.
Subconscious belief-based decision-making In subconscious belief-based decision-making we
also react to what is happening in our world without reflection, but on the basis of personal
memories rather than the institutionalised memories of our cellular (DNA). In this mode of
decision-making action also precedes thought. The action is often accompanied by the release of
an emotional charge. You know when subconscious fear-based beliefs are dominating your
decision-making if you feel impatient, frustrated, upset or angry. Whenever you experience such
feelings, you are dealing with some unmet ego deficiency needs that have never been resolved.
Your reactions and emotions are being triggered by a present moment situation that is making
you recall a memory about an unresolved situation from the past when you failed to get your
needs met. When you experience positively charged emotions such as joy, and happiness, you
are remembering moments from your past which supported you in meeting your deficiency
needs. For example, a picture of someone you have not seen in a long while or the sound of their
voice, may unleash tears of joy and happiness. Your reactions and emotions are being triggered
by a present moment situation that is making you recall a positive memory from the past. The
main features of subconscious belief-based decision-making are: • Actions always precede
thought—there is no gap for reflection between making meaning out of the situation and the
decision-making that precipitates an action. • The decisions that are made are always based on
past experiences—what your personal history has taught you about maintaining internal stability
and external equilibrium in the framework of existence of your childhood. This history is stored
in our personal memory. • We are not in control of our actions and behaviours. In this mode of
decision-making the only way we can get back into conscious control of your actions is either to
release or bottle-up your emotions. Releasing helps us to return to rationality. Bottling-up builds
up pressure. 5 | Page • It is very personal. Others are not consulted to help us enhance our
meaning-making and give support in our decision-making. Subconscious fear-based decision-
making occurs at the first three levels personal consciousness and is always about attempting to
meet our ego’s perceived deficiency needs. Conscious belief-based decision-making If we want
to make rational decisions, we have to leave behind subconscious beliefbased decision-making
and shift to conscious belief-based decision-making. We have to insert a pause between the event
and our response to it. The pause allows us time for reflection so we can use logic to understand
what is happening, and make a choice about how to respond. By inserting a pause, we also have
time to discuss the situation with others and get advice about the best way to meet our needs. The
main features of conscious belief-based decision-making are: • Thought precedes action—we
insert a pause between an event and our response to it so we can use logic and get advice in order
to determine the best way of meeting our needs. • The decisions that are made are based on past
experiences and what your personal history has taught you about maintaining internal stability
and external equilibrium in your childhood and adulthood. We make decisions based on what we
believe we know. • We are in control of our action and behaviours. • We can consult with others
to support and enhance our decision-making. Conscious belief-based decision-making has one
thing in common with subconscious belief-based decision-making: it uses information from the
past (beliefs about what we think we know) to make decisions about the future. Because of this,
the future we create is usually only an incremental improvement on the past. Values-based
decision-making The shift from conscious-belief based decision-making to values-based
decision-making is not easy. We have to individuate (establish ourselves at the transformation
level of consciousness), and develop a self-authoring mind before we can make this leap: we
need to become viable and independent in our framework of existence before valuesbased
decision-making is fully and naturally available to us. The reason why the shift from belief-based
decision-making to values-based decisionmaking requires individuation is because prior to
individuation we make meaning of our world through our beliefs—and most of these beliefs
have to do with our personal and cultural upbringing. The process of individuation involves
examining these beliefs 6 | Page and letting go of the ones that don’t serve us. As we let go of
these beliefs, we develop a new guidance system based on our deeply held values. Values are the
universal guidance system of the soul. When you shift to values-based decision-making, you can
effectively throw away your rule books. Every decision you make is sourced by what is deeply
meaningful to you. Values-based decision-making allows us to create a future that resonates
deeply with who we really are. It creates the conditions that allow authenticity and integrity to
flourish. That is not to say there is no place for conscious belief-based decision-making based or
logic and rational thinking. There is. However, all the critical decisions we need to make should
pass the values test. The main features of values-based decision-making are: • Thought precedes
action—we reflect on the values that we believe will allow us to get our needs met and make
decisions accordingly. • The decisions that are made are not based on past experiences. They are
based on the future we want to create. • We are in control of our action and behaviours. • We can
consult with others to support and enhance our decision-making. We make values-based
decisions so that we consciously create the future we want to experience. For example, if we
value trust, then we should make decisions that allow us to display trust. If we value
accountability, then we make decisions that allow us to display accountability. Intuition-based
decision-making The shift from values-based decision-making to intuition-based decision-
making develops overtime once the centre of gravity of your consciousness has shifted from your
ego to your soul. Intuition arises from the deepening of your connection to your soul. This is one
of the attributes of a self-transforming mind. We reach this level of consciousness after we have
completed our own internal cohesion, and have become a self-actualized individual. Intuition
allows us to access our own deeper intelligence, and the collective intelligence of a wider group.
The principal characteristics of intuition-based decision-making are as follows: • Awareness is
expanded through a shift in our sense of identity/consciousness. • Judgment is suspended: no
meaning-making takes place, either subconsciously or consciously. • The mind is empty:
thoughts, beliefs and agendas are suspended. 7 | Page • The mind is free to make a deep dive into
the mind-space of the collective unconscious, and emerge with a deep sense of knowing. • The
thoughts that arise reflect wisdom and are in alignment with your most deeply held values. In
intuition-based decision-making there is no conscious or subconscious attempt at making
meaning; and, there is no focus on the past or the future. You accept what is, without judgment.
The intuitive decision arises out of your presence in the current moment. Beliefs lead to
decisions based on past experiences. Values lead us to decisions based on the positive feelings
we want to experience now and in the future. When we are totally present to a situation without
judgment, we create the conditions that allow our minds to tap into the collective mind-space,
and our intuition informs us of what wants or needs to emerge. This is the basis of the U-Theory
used for collective decision-making, described by Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski and Flowers in
Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future. 2 Inspiration-based decision-making
Inspiration is the way we receive soul-based promptings into our mind. Inspiration is always
very personal and directive. It is about what you need to do. It is a persistent thought that will not
go away or it is the next step you have to take in a soul-centred activity. It will keep prompting
you to take action until you do something about it. The purpose of inspiration is to support you in
fulfilling your soul purpose. Inspiration is different to intuition. Intuition is non-directive.
Intuition is an idea or insight that apparently arises from nowhere at any specific moment that
provides a solution to a problem. Intuition can best be described as a “eureka” moment, whereas
inspiration is best described as guidance for staying in a state of “flow.” When you keep
receiving a soul-driven persistent thought about an action or direction you need to take, and you
do not follow this directive, there will eventually be emotional consequences, usually in the form
of melancholy or depression. Depression arises from a lack of alignment of your ego motivations
with your soul motivations. When the needs of the ego are given precedence of the needs of the
soul over a long period of time, you will begin to feel the symptoms of melancholy and then
depression. The principal characteristics of inspiration-based decision-making are as follows: •
The thought appears to arise from nowhere • The thought is persistent 2 Peter Senge, C. Otto
Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of
the Future,: The Society for Organisational Learning, Cambridge, 2004. 8 | Page • The thought is
linked to actions that you need to take • There are consequences for not following your
inspiration. You will recall in the preface of this book I spoke about my “calling” to write a book
on leadership. That was inspiration in action. When I began to write the book I often found
myself in flow. Ideas and insights just kept flooding my mind. Whenever I got stuck with my
writing, I would ask my soul for guidance. I would say to my soul, “I need help.” If I felt really
stuck, I would say in demanding voice-thought, “Hey soul, get off your backside and help me.”
Always within 24 hours another perfect insight would pop into mind. I would be back in the
flow. I feel that this book pretty much wrote itself. I just allowed my life to blend with my work
and stay open to inspiration. I can recall periods of time when I could not stop the flow. Words
just kept coming without thought or need for editing. Conclusions These six modes of human
decision-making, or more precisely ways of making meaning and getting to a decision, are all
evolutionary support systems that have evolved to protect the integrity of the body, the ego, and
the soul. Each mode of decision-making is naturally tailored to enable us to handle increasing
levels of complexity in the world around us and enhance our ability to respond. As we move
through these six stages of decision-making and seven levels of consciousness our mode of
operation shifts from a socialized mind (young child to adult), to a self-authoring mind (adult to
mature adult), to a self transforming mind (soul-infused adult to elder). As babies we rely on the
instincts of our body mind to help us survive—a simple life with parents (Level 1
consciousness). As young children we rely on the subconscious beliefs of our socialized mind to
help us stay safe by learning how to conform—a relatively simple life with parents, siblings and
extended family (Level 2 consciousness). As older children we rely on the subconscious and
conscious beliefs of our socialized mind to navigate the world we live in, and differentiate
ourselves from others—a more complex life with parents, siblings, extended family members,
and non-family peers (Level 3 consciousness). As adults we rely on the conscious beliefs and
values of our self-authoring mind to individuate, and begin to step into our authentic self—a
significantly more complex life with family members, non-family peers, and bosses (Level 4
consciousness). As mature adults we rely on the values and conscious beliefs of our self-
authoring mind to self-actualize and become fully who we really are—a very complex life with
our own family, parents, siblings, extended family, non-family peers, bosses, and subordinates
(also Level 5 consciousness). 9 | Page As soul-infused adults we rely on the values and intuition
of our self-transforming mind to integrate with others who share similar values and a common
vision—an even more complex life with our own family, parents, siblings, and extended family,
non-family peers, bosses, subordinates, and partner groups (Level 6 consciousness). As elders we
rely on the intuition and inspiration of our self-transforming mind to serve humanity—this is as
complex as it gets with our own family, parents, siblings, extended family, non-family peers,
bosses, subordinates, partner groups, humanity and the planet, as well as future generations
(level 7 consciousness). Instincts support us from the moment we are born. We rely on them to
navigate the first two years of lives until we learn to talk. Subconscious beliefs support us in
staying safe and surviving during childhood once we have developed the ability to talk and
before we have developed the full cognitive abilities of our mind. Conscious beliefs then take
over as our principal mode of decision-making. When we begin to individuate, we need a new
guidance system for making decisions that is not based on the parentally and culturally
conditioned beliefs we learned during our formative years. This is when the values of the soul
come into play. Values are the survival system of the soul. The soul uses values to protect its
integrity. As we grow and develop in soul consciousness, we first learn how to use values to
support our decision-making; then we learn to tap into our intuition, and finally we learn how to
follow our inspiration. Inspiration is the mode of decision-making that enables us to fulfil our
destiny. The soul infused personality operates from values, utilizes intuition, and is guided by
inspiration
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THE BARRETT MODEL

The Seven Levels Model describes the evolutionary development of human
consciousness.

The Seven Levels Model was developed in 1996–1997. There are two
aspects to the model—the Seven Levels of Consciousness® Model and the
Seven Stages of Psychological Development Model. We operate at levels of
consciousness and we grow in stages (of psychological development).

The Seven Levels of Consciousness Model applies to all individuals and

human group structures—organisations, communities, nations. The Seven
Levels of Psychological Development Model applies to all individuals.

The following diagram shows the correspondence between the Seven Levels
of Consciousness and the Seven Stages of Psychological Development.
Under normal circumstances, the level of consciousness we operate from is
the same as the stage of psychological development we have reached.
However, no matter what stage of psychological development we are at, when
we are faced with what we consider to be a potentially negative change in our
circumstances or a situation that we believe could threaten our internal
stability or external equilibrium—anything that brings up fear—we may
temporarily shift to one of the three lower levels of consciousness.

Alternatively, if we have a “peak” experience—an experience of euphoria,

harmony or connectedness of a mystical or spiritual nature— we may
temporarily “jump” to a higher level of consciousness.

When the threat or peak experience has passed, we will normally return to the
level of consciousness that corresponds to the stage of psychological
development we were at before the experience occurred. In rare situations, a
peak experience may have a lasting impact, causing us to shift to a higher
stage of psychological development and operate from a higher level of
consciousness.

Similarly, a “negative” experience, if it is traumatic enough, and particularly if it

occurs in our childhood and teenage years, can impede our future
psychological development by causing us to be anchored, through frequent
triggering of the traumatic memory, into in one of the three lower levels of
consciousness.
ORIGINS OF THE MODEL

I created the Seven Levels Model

to provide a clear understanding of human motivations. The model is based
on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It was apparent to me that
Maslow’s research and thinking was ahead of his time. Abraham Maslow died
in 1970 at age 62, well before the consciousness movement had taken root. I
saw that, with some minor changes, his hierarchy of needs could be
transposed into a framework of consciousness. In 1996, I set about making
these changes. -Richard Barrett

https://www.valuescentre.com/mapping-values/barrett-model
Unleashing Human Potential for Performance and Profit By Richard Barrett Values‐driven organisations
are the most successful organisations on the planet.   Values‐driven organisations have high levels of
employee engagement; they generate higher earnings; they are more profitable, more customer‐
focused, and more productive—they have high retention rates and low absenteeism.  They also
generate more customer loyalty and more societal goodwill.   The purpose of this paper is to explain
why this is true, and to give some indications as to what is necessary to create a values‐driven
organisation. For more information on this topic read The Values‐Driven Organisation: Unleashing
Human Potential for Performance and Profit. 1 What Does Values‐Driven Mean?   In order to understand
why values‐driven organisations are so successful, we must first understand what being “values‐driven”
means and how it works in practice. To do that, we need to know what values are and where they come
from. According to sociologists “values” are:   The ideals and customs of a society toward which the
people have an effective regard.   I prefer to define values in a more pragmatic way:   Values are a
shorthand method of describing what is important to us individually or collectively (as an organisation,
community or nation) at any given moment in time. 2 They are “shorthand” because the concepts that
values represent can usually be captured in one word or a short phrase. For example, honesty,
openness, compassion, long‐term perspective and human rights can all be considered as values. Values
are universal: they transcend contexts. Behaviours, on the other hand, are usually described in a
“longhand” manner and are context dependent. For example, the behaviours associated with honesty,
depending on the context, could be: a) always tells the truth, b) never tell a lie, or c) freedom from
deceit or fraud. What I am also suggesting is that because our values represent what is important to us
at any given moment in time, our values are not fixed. The values that are important to you at this
particular moment in your life are a reflection of the needs you are experiencing right now, under your
current life conditions. An example of how value priorities change with age is shown in Figure 1, which
plots the proportion of people in different age groups living in the UK who selected honesty as one of
their top ten personal values. You can see from this chart that honesty takes on increasing importance
as people get older, but becomes slightly less of a priority for seniors. This does not mean necessarily
that seniors are less honest than middle‐aged people; it simply means that seniors have more pressing
needs which may cause honesty to move to a lower priority ranking.   Figure 1: Proportion of people in
different age groups in the UK selecting honesty as one of their top ten personal values. Not all our
values change as we grow older. There are some values that we may hold dear throughout our lives. For
example, some people will always have honesty as one of their core values. Others, as Figure 1 suggests,
give 3 more importance to honesty once they reach their thirties. They begin to recognize honesty is an
important component of integrity, and integrity brings many benefits; not the least of which is that it is
significant enabler of trust. Consequently, honesty moves up people’s value priority ranking because it
becomes more important to meeting their needs.    What are Needs? A need is something you want to
get, have or experience that you believe will make you happier or more aligned with who you are.
Consequently, your values are always a reflection of what you consider to be your needs.    There are
three levels of needs:   Level of Need Description Something you don’t have that you feel you absolutely
need. Something you consider important, that if you had you would feel less anxious or fearful.   
Something you don’t have enough of that you feel you absolutely need. Something you consider
important, that if you had more of you would feel less anxious or fearful. Something you would like to
have but is not important to your immediate needs.    Something that you don’t have, that you believe
would make you happier or improve your life in some way at some point in time in the future.    Table 1:
Three levels of needs You can see from Table 1 that there are two principal reasons for wanting to
satisfy your needs, a) to feel less anxious or fearful, or b) to feel happier or more content.   One of the
first researchers to make the link between needs, values and motivations was Abraham Maslow.
Maslow (1908‐1970), who was a philosopher and one of the foremost spokespersons for humanistic and
positive psychology, identified two basic types of human needs:   • Basic needs—also known as
“Deficiency” needs. • Growth needs—also known as “Being” needs. 4 You feel anxious and fearful when
you are unable to satisfy your basic needs, but once they are met, you no longer pay attention to them.
When you are able to satisfy you growth needs, they do not go away, they engender deeper levels of
attention and commitment. You want more of the feeling that you get when you are able to satisfy
these needs.   Maslow describes the relationship between our basic needs and growth needs in the
following way:   Man’s higher nature rests on his lower nature, needing it as a foundation… The best way
to develop this higher nature is to fulfil and gratify the lower nature first.2 Table 2 identifies three types
of basic needs (survival, relationship, and self‐ esteem) and four types of growth needs (transformation,
internal cohesion, making a difference and service). The basic needs appear at the bottom of the table
and the growth needs appear at the top of the table. The three basic needs and four growth needs
represent stages in our psychological development. If we are not able to satisfy our needs at a particular
stage of development, we stay at that stage until we can either meet those needs or overcome the fears
that are preventing us from satisfying those needs.   For example, you may be in a high‐paying job that
you find unsatisfying. What you would like to do is follow your passion in a low paying job which is more
meaningful to you. Taking a significant cut in income may bring up survival fears. If you allow these fears
to dictate your actions, you will not be able to move to the next stage of your development—satisfying
your need to find work that is meaningful to you.   5 Types of Needs Development Levels Need
Requirements   GROWTH NEEDS   (Being Needs) Service Satisfying your need to leave a legacy—to have
led a life of significance that will be remembered. Making a Difference Satisfying your need to actualize
your purpose by influencing or impacting the world around you.    Internal Cohesion Satisfying your need
for authenticity and to find meaning and purpose for your life.    Transformation Satisfying your need for
autonomy, freedom and independence. BASIC NEEDS (Deficiency Needs) Self‐esteem Satisfying your
emotional need to be recognized by others as valuable or important because of your skills, talents or
qualities.   Relationship Satisfying your emotional need for belonging, protection and connection.   
Survival Satisfying your physiological needs for security—staying alive and keeping your body healthy.
Table 2: Basic needs and growth needs   Thus, your potential for happiness, joy and contentment
depends significantly on the degree to which the environments in which you live and work are able to
satisfy your deficiency needs and nurture/support you in meeting your growth needs. These findings
have significant implications for organisations. If you want to have a loyal, committed and creative
workforce then you need to make sure that your employees are able to satisfy their deficiency needs,
and you also need to provide programmes and opportunities for them to pursue and satisfy their growth
needs. You need to support the psychological development of your employees by implementing
structures, policies, systems and procedures that enable them to take care of their families, 6 form
friendships with people with whom they work, excel at what they do best, nurture and cultivate
autonomy, find authenticity, meaning and purpose, have opportunities to make a difference, and, if
possible, leave a positive legacy.   This is what it means to become a values‐driven organisation. Values‐
driven organisations live the values that align with the needs that employees have at every level of their
psychological development. When this happens organisations experience a high level of employee
engagement. Employees feel engaged because the organisation enables them to meet their needs.   
Employee Engagement and Performance Gallup, a research‐based performance‐management
consultancy, has found that organisations with highly engaged employees have 3.9 times the earnings
per share growth rate compared to organisations with low engagement in the same industry.3 Engaged
workgroups are more productive, profitable, and customer focused, and have higher retention rates,
lower numbers of safety incidents and less absenteeism than disengaged workgroups.   Gallup concludes
from their research that: In the best organizations, engagement is more than a human resources
initiative—it is a strategic foundation for the way they do business. Increasing employee engagement
correlates directly with a positive impact on key business metrics. The best‐performing companies know
that an employee engagement improvement strategy linked to the achievement of corporate goals will
help them win in the marketplace.4 Another global Human Resource Consulting firm, AON Hewitt, found
that companies with high levels of engagement (65% or greater) outperform the stock market, posting
total shareholder returns 22 percent more than the average. Companies with low engagement (45% or
less) had total shareholder returns that were 28 percent lower than average.5 Furthermore, AON Hewitt
estimates that a disengaged employee costs an organisation an average of $10,000 in profit annually; as
a result organisations with high engagement are 78% more productive and 40% more profitable.6 Aon
Hewitt also found that in the most recent economic downturn (2008), organisations with high
engagement scores were more resilient than companies with low engagement scores.   Research carried
out by the UK retail giant, Marks and Spencer, shows that over a four year period stores with improving
engagement delivered £62 7 million more in sales to the business every year than stores with declining
engagement. Research carried out at Sainsbury’s, another UK retail giant, found a clear link between
sales performance and higher levels of engagement: high levels of engagement contributed up to 15% of
a store’s year on year growth. RSA, a global insurance company, discovered from their research that call
centres with higher levels of employee engagement had 35% less downtime between calls.7 In their
2012 report, the UK Employee Engagement Task Force8 identified four enablers of employee
engagement: • Visible, empowering leadership providing a strong strategic narrative about the
organisation, where it’s come from and where it’s going. • Engaging managers who provide focus for
their people and give them responsibility, treat their people as individuals, and coach, support and
stretch their people. • Giving employees a voice to either reinforce or challenge existing views. •
Organisational integrity—the values on the wall are reflected in day‐to‐day behaviours. There is no “say‐
do” gap.   In the UK, data provided to the Task Force by Towers Watson showed that only twenty‐seven
percent of employees in the workforce are “highly engaged”.9 This huge engagement deficit has a
significant impact on UK productivity figures—output per hour in the UK was fifteen points below the
average for the rest of the G7 industrialized nations in 2011. On an output per worker basis, UK
productivity was twenty points lower than the rest of the G7.10 8 | Page The Task Force’s report
concludes: Releasing the potential of an engaged workforce holds the prospect of reducing costs
associated with sickness, absence, employee turnover, production errors, accidents and inefficient
processes. It also holds the prospect of improving productivity, customer satisfaction, customer
retention and innovation. Any one of these mechanisms is capable of delivering substantial benefits to
the bottom‐line performance of organisations. The question of how to proceed remains unanswered, as
this will depend on the specific circumstances of individual organisations, but the evidence in this report
suggests that the best place to look for answers is with your employees.xi Employee Centricity Having
established that there are strong links between employee engagement and performance, let us now
turn our attention more specifically to the financial returns that can be generated by a highly engaged
workforce by referencing Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” This survey, which
recognises the best companies to work for in America, is conducted by the Great Place to Work
institute.   In the survey, two thirds of each company’s final score is based on the responses to the
Institute’s Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees. The survey asks questions
related to attitudes about management's credibility, job satisfaction, and the general level of
camaraderie that exists in the organisation. The other third of the score is based on the company's
responses to the Institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit
programs, and a series of open‐ended questions about hiring practices, internal communication,
training, recognition programs, and diversity efforts. In order to evaluate the financial performance of
the best companies to work for (in America), I measured the growth in share price of the top forty
publicly traded, best companies to work for over the period July 2002 to July 2012 and compared the
result with the growth in share price of the S&P 500xii over the same period. The results are shown in
Figure 2. 9 | Page Figure 2: Growth in share price of the top forty publicly traded best companies to
work for in America, July 2002‐2012 compared to the S&P 500. An investment of $25,000 in each of the
top forty companies to work for (total investment of $1 million) over this 10‐year period would have
realised an average annualised return of 16.39 percent, compared to 4.12 percent for the S&P 500. Not
only did the stocks of the top companies to work for significantly outperform the S&P 500 over this ten‐
year period, they also showed considerably more resilience in regaining their value after the global
economic meltdown of 2008. They regained their pre‐meltdown value in just over a year whereas it took
three years for the S&P 500 companies to regain their value. I believe that the strong financial
performance of these “people focused” companies underlines the importance of the employee
experience to the success of a company.    It is clear from the reports, studies and research cited above
that caring about the needs of employees (their basic needs and growth needs) is significantly correlated
with financial success. We have also found in our own research at the Barrett Values Centre that
employee engagement is also strongly correlated with cultural entropy.   Cultural entropyxiii is a
measure of the amount of energy that is consumed in doing unnecessary or unproductive work—the
amount of conflict, friction and frustration that employees encounter in their day‐to‐day activities that
prevent them and the organisation from operating at peak performance. The main 10 | Page source of
cultural entropy in an organisation is the fear‐based actions and behaviours of the leaders, managers
and supervisors.   When leaders, managers and supervisors are anxious and fearful (when they have
unmet deficiency needs and engage in dysfunctional behaviours such as control, manipulation, blame,
internal competition, etc.) cultural entropy increases and employee engagement decreases.  Conversely,
when leaders, managers and supervisors engage in caring and trusting behaviours and the organisation
encourages its employees to be responsible and accountable for their work, allowing them free rein to
take initiatives which boost performance, cultural entropy decreases and staff engagement increases.     
Figure 3 shows the relationship between cultural entropy and employee engagement as measured in
163 organisations in Australia and New Zealand in a joint research project carried out by Barrett Values
Centre and Hewitt Associates in June 2008. The results of this analysis show that cultural entropy and
employee engagement are highly inversely correlated—companies with low cultural entropy have high
employee engagement and companies with high cultural entropy have low employee engagement.   
Figure 3: Employee engagement vs. Cultural entropy 11 | Page In organisations with high cultural
entropy (disengaged employees), the leaders, managers and supervisors are focused on addressing their
own needs. In organisations with low cultural entropy (engaged employees), the leaders, managers and
supervisors are focused on meeting the needs of their direct reports and other colleagues, the needs of
customers, the needs of investors and the needs of the people in the communities where they operate.
By focusing on the needs of all the organisation’s stakeholders they engender high levels of staff
engagement, customer support, investor attention and societal goodwill.   Conclusions All this research
into the cultures of top performing organisations suggests that whilst caring about the needs of
employees and other stakeholders is important, it is not sufficient—you must also create a high‐trust
culture that inspires employees to bring their full selves to work. This means working with the
organisation’s leaders, managers and supervisors to reduce their level of personal entropy. Personal
entropy is the amount of fear‐driven energy that a person expresses in his or her day‐to‐day interactions
with other people— energy which is focused on self‐interest rather than the common good.     Humans
are basically social creatures: we depend on each other for our individual and collective survival,
progress and success. When one person in a group is focused more on his or her own success than the
group’s success, then discord and conflict will ensue, and the group will become dysfunctional. With
such a culture, the group will never be able to achieve its full potential.    When people, especially
leaders, operate with pure self‐interest, they not only compromise their own future well‐being, they
also compromise the well‐being of the organisation, group or community they belong to. The collapse of
companies such as Enron, Tyco International and WorldCom are a testament to this fact. Fear‐driven
energy arises from the conscious and subconscious fear‐based beliefs (limiting beliefs) that people have
about meeting their deficiency needs.   • Limiting beliefs at the survival level are about not having
enough of what you need to feel safe and secure. These beliefs result in 12 | Page the display of
potentially limiting values such as control, manipulation, greed, and excessive caution.   • Limiting beliefs
at the relationship level are about not feeling loved enough to be accepted and protected. These beliefs
result in the display of potentially limiting values such as blame, being liked, competition and internal
politics, • Limiting beliefs at the self‐esteem level are about not being enough to engender the respect
or acknowledgement of the authority figures in your life or your peers. These beliefs result in the display
of potentially limiting values such as status seeking, power‐seeking, arrogance and an overly strong
focus on self‐ image.   When you truly get to the heart of the matter—what creates long‐lasting value for
investors—you cannot fail to come to the conclusion that culture is everything! Culture drives
performance by unleashing human potential.    The culture of an organisation is defined by the values
that are lived by the leaders, managers and supervisors. These are not necessarily the espoused values
—the values that the organisation says it wants to embrace—but the values that exist in reality and
show up in the everyday interactions between leaders, managers and employees, and between
employees and customers and suppliers.   The conclusion I have reached is that if you want to build a
high performing organisation with superior financial returns, then you will need to focus on satisfying
the needs of all your stakeholders, especially the needs of your employees—their basic needs and their
growth needs.                                                                1 Richard Barrett, The Values‐Driven Organisation:
Unleashing Human Potential for Performance and Profit (London: Routledge), August, 2013. 2 Abraham
Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (Second Edition) (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold), 1968, p.
173. 3 Employee Engagement: What’s Your Engagement Ration, Gallup Consulting (PDF) 4 Ibid. 5 Trends
in Global Employee Engagement, AON Hewitt, 2011. 13 | Page
6 Economic uncertainty creates a recession in employee engagement: How top organisations continue
to prosper, AON Hewitt, Hewitt Engagement Recession Article HBR.pdf 7 Bruce Rayton, Employee
Engagement Task Force “Nailing the evidence” workgroup (University of Bath School of Management),
2012, pp. iii‐iv. 8 Ibid., p.1. 9 Ibid., p. 4. 10 Ibid., p. ii.   xi Ibid., p. 26. xii S&P 500: Standard & Poor's 500,
is a stock market index based on the common stock prices of 500 top publicly traded American
companies. xiii For a full description of cultural entropy and how to measure it see
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%20Potential%20for%20Performance%20and%20Profit.pdf
Values in the construction industry
Building an ethical culture

“Our personal values are at the core of who we are, what we believe in, our
self worth and how we behave. When we are living our personal values we
feel good, we have a positive mental attitude, and feel like we are living life
to the fullest” (Barclay 2015)

Building an ethical culture starts with values. Knowing what your own
values are, what motivates you, & knowing the values of your work
environment, are all important but do they match? If your workplace list
their values on the company website, do they operate by them? Discuss
this below after reading the article.

Ethics are who you are when no-one is looking but what happens if you can’t be who you
are on a daily basis?
At work you may feel you have to compromise your ethics to follow social
norms and ‘the way things are done’. Whether or not you can be yourself and
act in accordance with your values & ethics is very much dependent on your
workplace culture.

Culture is set from the top and is how leaders do things, including their style
of management & the way they make decisions. Culture is heavily dependent
on leadership values and norms of behaviour. A positive culture encourages
people to speak up, be open & honest with shared values and higher
engagement. Having leaders with positive values and high moral standards
creates an ethical culture.

Leaders with a command and control style who don’t want to listen will
create an environment where people won’t speak up to report on unethical
behaviour. Depending on their values, the leaders may be driving unethical
behaviour from the top & although they may technically be staying above the
law and being legal, their behaviour would not be judged by their piers to be
ethical.
The construction industry can be a fantastic place to work and there are so
many talented, hard working and driven people who come together to create
amazing spaces and infrastructure for their clients and stakeholders. There
are, however, standard negative traits and behaviours that keep repeating
themselves.

Modern slavery is at the extreme end of the spectrum, at the opposite end of
the scale is bullying, command and control behaviour, lack of trust and
conflict.

The industry is all about people and relationships and the quality of its
buildings are based on the quality of those relationships. To truly collaborate
it makes sense to start with values to understand the values of the client,
stakeholders and the team members and also where the potential conflicts and
barriers to success are.

Now comment below:

Knowing what your own values are, what motivates you, & knowing the
values of your work environment, are all important but do they match? If
your workplace list their values on the company website, do they operate by
them? How do project relationships effect values?

How do your values compare?

Do any of your values match those that are required or wanted in construction?
The global research showed that constructors need three core values:

1. Information sharing and open communication

2. Accountability and employee recognition
3. Leadership development and balance between home and work life.

Discuss your results below whether your personal values reflect those needed
in construction.
Respond to at least one other comment as this will help stimulate the debate.
Remember, you could also like comments that you find particularly
interesting or relevant.

Professional values
The link between professional recognition and ethics
Whilst personal values are set when we are young, professional values
are discussed and instilled in us as adults. Professional bodies offer
significant value to society in governance and ethics – by setting
standards for behaviour and competence and sanctioning those who
contravene them, according to the report ‘Understanding the Value of
Professionals and Professional Bodies’, which surveyed more than 2,000
members of the public and over 150 Members of Parliament.

In an uncertain world where government, trade associations and trade unions

often have to think short term, one set of organisations stand out as providing
a constant and consistent push for technical, productivity and welfare
improvements – the professional bodies.

Despite their traditional associations, professional bodies have as their central

activity the sharing and dissemination of information on how to make things
better, whether that is improved techniques and processes, advances in
technology or better worker welfare. And they don’t exist to help their
members compete, but to help them collaborate. The top value needed in the
construction industry today.

The report finds that professional bodies in the UK offer significant value to
society and their membership in five areas that top current social and political
agendas, namely:

Productivity – through increasing the capability of the workforce by

promoting best practice and sharing the latest advancements;
Social mobility – by providing routes to entry for all and in providing trusted
qualifications that remain open to individuals at any point within their career;

Governance and ethics – by setting standards for behaviour and competence

and sanctioning those who contravene them;

International development – by exporting qualifications and professional

services via growing international networks;

Policy formation – by undertaking research which advances understanding of

important issues and by sharing specialist knowledge with decision makers.

Professional ethics where a person has joined a membership body, are

governed not only by a persons own values, but also by those stipulated by
the professional body.

“Ethics and ethical behaviour are central to professionalism. It does not

matter how skilled and experienced a person becomes: if they behave
dishonestly and without regard for the rights of others, they are not a
professional person” (CIOB website).

The CIOB Code of Conduct for members first four rules are:

1. Members shall, in fulfilling their professional responsibilities and the

duties which they undertake, have full regard to the public interest.
2. Members shall demonstrate a level of competence consistent with their
class of membership.
3. Members shall at all times act with integrity so as to uphold and
enhance the dignity, standing and reputation of the Institute.
4. Members undertaking work in a country other than their own shall
observe these Rules and Regulations so far as they are applicable.

If you’re interested in becoming a member of CIOB, take a look at how

to join today.

Using professional judgement

Professional judgement
Considering either the CIOB Code of Conduct or your own professional
organisations rules discuss:

Professional judgement and abiding by such rules is assessed when people

apply for higher recognition within professional bodies. Why are these values
important in construction? Where can your choices make the biggest impact
on society?

Comment on this below.

Values in international business

Working in global locations
For businesses managing global locations or multi-cultural workforces,
understanding and respecting peoples attitudes, values and beliefs is
crucial.

Research shows that these differences are the key cause of global project
inefficiencies (Mahalingham et Al, 2005). Some significant differces globally
are:

1. Rules are approached differently, some will follow them to the letter,
others will exercise professional judgement to progress the works.

2. Contracts do not always take account of cultural and regulatory

differences. Friction arises from inflexible clauses that can be
ambiguous and that do not recognise the partnership nature of the
relationship as they were designed for single culture projects.

3. Health and safety can differ widely across countries, especially in the
mentality of workers to safety issues.

Businesses today, not only need to understand the values of their workforce,
supply chain and stakeholders, but also the relevant laws and policies of the
country in which they operate. For example, how women are treated in
Islamic culture differs widely from western culture. Such instances can
sometimes lead to ethical dilemmas.

Comment on your experiences working internationally below.

 View0 comments

Question 1

Which of the following statements is correct

Values are who you are when no-one is looking

Values form a need or a void to motivate you

Values are wha’t important to you and what motivates your behaviour

Correct
Question 2

Which of the following statements is correct

Values are formed in adulthood and influenced by change

Values are only formed in childhood and are with you for life

Values are formed through your childhood and influenced by your

upbringing and culture.

Correct
Question 3

Name the two types of needs influenced by Abraham Maslow

Early life needs and growth needs

Basic needs and advanced needs

Basic needs and growth needs

Correct
Ethics are:

How you form your values

How you test your values

How you live your values

Correct
Question 5

3 value jumps form the Barrett Values Centre construction industry

report were:

efficiency, honesty, coaching and mentoring

Open communication, accountability, balance (home/work)

Open communication, accountability and coaching / mentoring

Correct
Summary of week 2
You should now be able to:
1. Explain what values are
2. Understand how values link to ethics
3. Know your own personal values
4. Be aware of the aggregate data about values held by people who work
in the construction industry all around the world

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