Values That Come Alive Through Action
Values only exist if they drive decisions and get celebrated with specific stories.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 85%
This framework treats values as behaviors that must be operationalized, not slogans on a wall. Seckler contrasts the many companies whose wall posters everyone knows are meaningless with Just Works, where values of camaraderie, openness, grit, integrity, and simplicity actively guide decisions. Values come alive through visible leader behavior, through how decisions get made, and through storytelling — company awards named after each value let leaders celebrate specific people who embodied them. Crucially, risky values must be contextualized: 'grit' could be weaponized to push employees into 100-hour weeks, so Just Works explicitly frames it as showing up in extraordinary moments for customers, not as a default expectation of overwork. Values should be periodically inspected even when kept.
Origin
Seckler observed that many companies have value posters on their walls that everyone knows don't mean anything and that no one references when making decisions. He built Just Works deliberately as the opposite — cascading its mission, vision, and values into awards, all-hands storytelling, and decision-making. He pays special attention to the value of 'grit' because it is the one most open to dangerous misinterpretation.
Core principles
- 01Values that aren't referenced in decisions are just posters that everyone ignores.
- 02Values come alive through action — how leaders behave and how decisions get made.
- 03Each value must be contextualized so it can't be misinterpreted or weaponized.
- 04Values should be inspected periodically even if you choose to keep them unchanged.
How to run it
- 1
Anchor values to mission and vision
Start from your north star of mission and vision, then define the values that support how you get there.
Watch out Values that don't align to mission and vision disappear in practice.
- 2
Contextualize each value
Define what each value does and does not mean, especially ones open to abuse.
Pro tip For 'grit,' clarify it means going the extra mile in extraordinary moments for customers, not routine 100-hour weeks.
Watch out Undefined values like grit can be weaponized by managers to push employees past reasonable limits.
- 3
Celebrate with specific stories
Give awards named after each value and use all-hands to tell concrete stories of individuals who embodied them.
Pro tip Show, for example, what 'openness' looked like when someone's willingness to change created a breakthrough.
- 4
Periodically inspect the values
On a regular cadence, evaluate whether each value still supports the company, even if you decide to keep them all.
Pro tip You can keep values unchanged for years and still intentionally re-inspect them rather than leaving them on autopilot.
In the wild
Just Works keeps 'grit' as a value but explicitly frames it: everyone needs balance, and grit means going the extra mile in the rare moments when customers' ability to pay people or stay compliant is at risk — not working 100-hour weeks as a matter of course.
→ The value drives extraordinary effort in genuine emergencies while protecting employees from burnout-by-mandate.
Hala shared that her company's early value of 'scrappy' had to be redefined as the company gained resources — 'scrappy but not sloppy' — adding an expectation to be right rather than just fast. Seckler affirmed that inspecting and adjusting values as you grow makes sense.
→ The value was intentionally re-contextualized to fit a more resourced stage without abandoning its original spirit.
Common mistakes
Poster-on-the-wall values
Publishing value statements that no one references when making decisions renders them meaningless and erodes trust in leadership.
Leaving values undefined
Failing to contextualize a value like grit lets it be misinterpreted or weaponized into overwork and burnout.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders scaling culture who want values to actually shape behavior and decisions.
Not ideal for
Solo operators or tiny teams where shared values are already implicit and lived daily.
From the transcript
“there's a lot of companies that have posters on their walls with value statements that everyone in the company knows don't mean a thing”
“grit, you can imagine, could be weaponized to by a manager to push employees to levels that are beyond reasonable expectations”
From the episode
Mike Seckler: How to Build a Business That Thrives When Others Fail
Mike Seckler