This presentation shows a comparison of the results of the USA National Values Assessment conducted by Barrett Values Centre. I shows 3 main perspectives
1) Personal values of the American people
2) The values of American organisations (current & desired)
3) The values and culture of American society (current & desired)
Leaders (national, community and organisational) are welcome to download and use this material. If you want further information from the results please contact Allyn Chambliss (Allyn@Valuescentre.com)
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America's Values: Results from the Barrett US National Values Assessment 2009 2010
1. America’s Common Values Results from the US National Values Assessment 2009 – 2010 Comparison
2. Who are we? We are the people of the United States of America.
3. We are Over 1500 people comprising the following demographic groups (2010): Statistical validation: US population of 309m people, requires sample size of 664 to create 99% confidence level and 5% confidence interval AGE 20 and under 2.5% 21 to 30 18.9% 31 to 40 19.4% 41 to 50 18.8% 51 to 60 16.8% 61 to 70 15.6% 71 and over 7.9% REGION US Census BVC Northeast 19% 22.1% Midwest 22.9% 21.0% South 35.6% 33.3% West 22.5% 22.4% Alaska/Hawaii 1.2% GENDER US Census BVC Male 50% 50.1% Female 50% 49.9% Ethnicity US Census BVC American Indian/Alaska native/Hawaii native 1.5% 0.8% Asian 4.0% 4.1% Black/African American 12.5% 11.5% Hispanic/Latino 12.5% 10.9% White 69.% 69.9% Other .5% 1.1% Prefer not to answer 1.9%
4. What questions were asked? 1) Personal Values Please select ten of the following values/behaviors that most reflect who you are, not who you desire to become. 2) Current Organizational Culture Values Please select ten of the following values/behaviors that most reflect how your organization currently operates. If you are not currently employed, please rate your previous organization. 3) Desired Organizational Culture Values Please select ten of the following values/behaviors that, in your opinion, are essential for your organization to achieve its highest performance. If you are not currently employed, please choose the values that in your opinion are important for high performing organizations. 4) Current National Culture Values Please select ten of the following values/behaviors that most reflect how society currently operates in the USA. 5) Desired National Culture Values Please select ten of the following values/behaviors that you would most like to see in the USA.
5. Common Values 2009 - 2010 family caring honesty humor/fun responsibility accountability independence friendship compassion respect This illustration is a part of ”Spheres”. See the whole presentation here slideshop.com/3d-spheres 2009 Who we are and how we have changed this year – Personal Values patience
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7. Who we are and how we have changed this year – Personal Values “ Patience” dropped from 11th to 15th in rank and lost 3 percentage points compared to 2009. Are we less willing to wait for change?
8. Who we are and how we have changed this year – Personal Values “ Accountability” is becoming more important in our personal lives, having increased by 6 percentage points. Since 2009, accountability has moved up from #9 to #6 in the top personal values.
9. Common Values 2009 - 2010 customer satisfaction accountability teamwork cost reduction achievement being the best community involvement continuous learning This illustration is a part of ”Spheres”. See the whole presentation here slideshop.com/3d-spheres 2010 profit Our working lives Organizational Values – Current Culture bureaucracy continuous improvement commitment 2009
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11. Our working lives Organizational Values – Current Culture “ Profit” did not appear as a primary value in 2009. In 2010, “profit” increases 5 percentage points and rises from #18 to the #8 value in organizational Current Culture.
12. Our working lives Organizational Values – Current Culture 2009 - No unproductive values among the top values of the existing culture. 2010 - “Bureaucracy” appears among the top current values. Entropy increases from 15% to 18% between 2009 and 2010, reflecting minor issues requiring adjustment.
13. Our working lives Organizational Values – Current Culture Values Matches 2009 6 values we experience now and want to carry forward: accountability , customer satisfaction , teamwork , achievement, commitment, continuous improvement Values Matches 2010 4 values we experience now and want to carry forward: accountability , customer satisfaction , teamwork , continuous learning 4 to 6 values matches show that employees have confidence in the direction their organizations are heading.
14. Common Values 2009 - 2010 accountability customer satisfaction continuous improvement teamwork commitment adaptability open communication integrity This illustration is a part of ”Spheres”. See the whole presentation here slideshop.com/3d-spheres Where we want to be Organizational Values – Desired Culture 2010 continuous learning profession- alism achievement efficiency 2009 ethics
15. Where we want to be Organizational Values – Desired Culture In 2009, we saw the need for “achievement,” “efficiency” and “professionalism” in our working lives. Today, those values have been replaced by “ethics” and “continuous learning”.
16. Where we want to be Organizational Values – Desired Culture “ Evolution is not a force but a process. Not a cause but a law.” ~John Morley 2010 Desired Culture Values Finance Client Relations Culture Societal Contribution 2009 Desired Culture Values Finance Fitness Evolution Societal Contribution In our working lives, we see a need to move away from a focus on systems and processes (Fitness) and give more emphasis to continuous renewal and development (Evolution). Is the same true from a national perspective?
17. Common Values 2009 - 2010 bureaucracy corruption blame uncertainty about the future wasted resources materialistic crime/violence unemployment conflict/aggression This illustration is a part of ”Spheres”. See the whole presentation here slideshop.com/3d-spheres 2010 military strength 2009 poverty Our societal perception National Values – Current Culture
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19. Our societal perception National Values – Current Culture Between 2009 and 2010, entropy increases from 52% to 58%. “ Bureaucracy,” “corruption” and “blame” top our national values in 2010. “ Corruption” falls from the #1 to the #2 position in the Current Culture.
20. Our societal perception National Values – Current Culture “ Uncertainty about the future,” “wasted resources” and “materialistic” are issues that supersede concerns around “crime/violence” in 2010.
21. Our societal perception National Values – Current Culture “ Unemployment” and “crime/violence” continue to trouble the nation.
24. Common Values 2009 - 2010 Where we want to be National Values – Desired Culture 2010 effective healthcare poverty reduction financial stability quality of life 2009 honesty accountability concern for future generations employment opportunities caring for the elderly caring for the disadvantaged affordable housing peace economic growth
25. How We Get There “ Accountability” 2010 #6 in Personal Values #2 in Org. Current Culture #1 in Org. Desired Culture #1 in National Desired Culture “ Accountability” is an across-the-board values match in organizational culture – 2009 and 2010 Are we asking for accountability from ourselves or only from others?
26. How We Get There What lessons can we take from our personal and working perspectives to improve our lives on a national scale?
27. How We Get There “ Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends...these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths ” . ~ Barack Obama
Hinweis der Redaktion
Hello, and thank you for your interest in the US National Values Assessment. In 2009, as a gift to the new Obama administration, the Barrett Values Centre (BVC) conducted a National Values Assessment utilizing our Cultural Transformation Tools (CTT). This tool allows us to measure and map values in order to study the cultures of nations, government and municipal agencies, communities, organizations, and schools. In 2010, we again conducted a National Values Assessment to see how the American perspective has changed in the first years of this administration.
1504 US participants were surveyed, as compared to approximately the same number of participants in 2009.
We targeted our respondents so as to create a sample that was statistically valid and accurately represented US population demographics.
The first question posed was, “ Please select ten of the following values/behaviors that most reflect who you are, not who you desire to become.” The values here in the blue circle represent the values which received the most votes and that remained consistent with those selected in 2009. Notice here, that “patience” was among the top personal values in 2009, yet fell out of focus in 2010.
There are a few key messages here. 1) Relationships are a central focus in our lives and we work to make a difference for the people we care about. 2) We take ownership of our actions and do what we say we will do. 3) We appreciate our freedom and autonomy. These are the core values of the people of the US. When we are living consciously, these are the values that guide our decisions.
Note that “patience” is no longer among our top values. Are we less willing to wait for change?
Another significant issue comes to light in the value of “accountability”. Accountability increased by 6% of the vote since 2009 and jumped from the 9 th position to #6 among our personal values. Taking ownership of the outcomes of our actions is becoming more and more important.
The next question posed was, “ Please select ten values/behaviors that most reflect how your organization currently operates. If you are not currently employed, please rate your previous organization. The values here in the blue circle represent the values which received the most votes and that remained consistent with those selected in 2009. The values shown in the white spheres were those that were unique to the corresponding year.
A few key messages are illustrated here. 1) We work together to serve the needs of our customers and communities. 2) Accomplishment is important to us. 3) We understand the need to be financially responsible. The degree of entropy represents the % of votes for what we call potentially limiting values. This means that 18% of our efforts are unproductive, a degree of entropy that calls for minor monitoring and adjustment.
Note that the value of profit appears as a top priority in 2010. It moved from the #18 position in 2009 to #8 in 2010, not surprising for organizations trying to stay afloat in uncertain economic times.
In our working lives, entropy increased from 15% to 18% between 2009 and 2010 and the value of “bureaucracy” appears as a unique value for 2010.
The number of values matches, those values that people currently experience in their working environment and would like to carry forward, is an indicator of the degree of confidence that people have in the direction their organization is taking. While values matches have dropped since 2009, we still believe our organizations are on the right track.
When asked, “please select ten of the following values/behaviors that, in your opinion, are essential for your organization to achieve its highest performance”, the values shown in the blue circle are those which received the most votes and remained consistent with those selected in the prior year.
Note that “achievement,” “efficiency” and “professionalism”, values pertaining to performance, systems and processes have been replaced by “ethics” and “continuous learning”, values that represent transformation and serving a greater good.
This graphic maps the Desired Culture values to a balanced scorecard, what we call the Business Needs Scorecard. This clearly shows desire to move away from performance, or Fitness, emphasis and place greater attention to Evolution. Could this be the beginning of a desire for cultural transformation on a broader scale?
Respondents were next asked, “ Please select ten values/behaviors that most reflect how society currently operates in the USA”. These are the values that were selected. Again, the values listed in blue reveal the issues that were consistent from year to year, while those in white spheres reflect values unique to the corresponding year. The values listed in red are considered potentially limiting values, or those values that erode performance in any given culture.
The results show that our perception of our national society is drastically different from what we experience as our core values and our daily working lives. Entropy here is at a critical level and has risen since 2009. This level of entropy is signals possible civil unrest and the need for drastic change.
We are frustrated by slow-moving processes.
Material wealth is still a factor in our lives, yet we squander our resources and lack opportunities to work.
“ Unemployment” and “crime/violence” continue to trouble the nation.
When we look at demographic segments, we see little diversion from the overall results.
When we look at political party affiliations, we see common frustrations in all parties. The bolded checkmarks indicate that the corresponding value is experienced in every political party.
Our final question was, “ Please select ten values/behaviors that you would most like to see in the USA.” Again the values in the blue sphere show commonalities between 2009 and 2010, while the unique values in the white spheres show how our perspective has changed. We continually seek thoughtful planning, a healthier job market and support for the people who have the least. We also want to focus on building a peaceful nation. However, in 2010, we are asking for opportunities to work and take care of ourselves and our families. And, significantly, we want our leaders to be sincere in their communications and in their actions.
How then do we make change happen? What does “accountability” mean from an individual perspective? From a business perspective? And how do we use this value to guide our nation in our transformational journey?
What lessons can we take from our personal and working perspectives to improve our lives on a national scale? Areas to explore.
For more information, please contact the Barrett Values Centre or visit us online at www.valuescentre.com.