Workplace values: Guiding lights or shackles that bind?

Summary

Values are presented as the moral compass of individuals and organisations: they align teams, shape behaviour and give meaning. However, the article argues that values can become rigid and obstructive when unexamined — a “values paradox” where the very principles that drove success turn into constraints. The authors outline how dominant values can crowd out minority perspectives, how institutions can ossify values into dogma, and why deliberate reflection and open dialogue are needed to keep values relevant and enabling rather than binding.

Key Points

Values unite and direct behaviour but can become inflexible when held too tightly — the “values paradox”.
Leaders’ and institutions’ values strongly influence strategy, decision-making and culture.
Dominant values can suppress alternative, potentially transformative perspectives (eg flexible working).
Values that are not embedded in daily practices and incentives (eg ESG pledges) risk becoming symbolic and damaging credibility.
Deliberation — not just intuition — is required: reflect on why values exist, who they serve, and whether they still fit the context.
HR and leaders must both steward and challenge values by creating psychological safety, inclusive dialogue and systems that reflect lived behaviours.
When values are treated as living principles, open to challenge and evolution, they become capabilities rather than constraints.

Context and Relevance

This piece speaks directly to HR leaders, executives and culture practitioners wrestling with change: digital transformation, ESG expectations and hybrid working make the question of which values to uphold urgent. The article situates values as not just statements on a wall but as forces that shape incentives, performance management and everyday decisions. It highlights common failure modes — tokenism, dogma and dominance — and points to practical levers (listening, co-creation, embedding values into systems) for keeping values relevant.

Why should I read this?

Because if your org still treats values like decoration, you’re wasting an asset and probably creating headaches. This short read gives you a tidy way to think about when values help and when they hobble progress — and what HR and leaders can do to fix it. Quick to scan, useful to act on.

Author style

Punchy: the piece is direct and practical. It flags a real risk for leaders — values that calcify — and makes a clear case that active stewardship (not slogans) is essential. If you care about culture actually changing, this matters.