Have you tried the ‘Bolsover Test’ on your business values?

Whenever I’m doing a project helping a business design its values, I find the Bolsover Test a really good reality check.

This isn’t a test named after some famous Harvard academic.

Nor is it all the rage with the 2019 batch of MBA students.

No, the Bolsover Test is named after my home town. A mining town in the Midlands of England.

Well, it was until the mines closed. Now it’s more a charity shop and off-licence town.

Bolsover is a straight-talking place.

Many towns and cities claim to be straight-talking, I know, but the people of Bolsover have a special attribute that makes them especially different. And difficult to please:

A genetic predisposition to be unimpressed with fluff, gloss and general showing off.

Their tolerance of bullshit is lower than any low-hanging fruit.

The typical Bolsoverian is a blue collar worker, too.

A typical day at the office does not involve Skyping the Chicago office for some alignment following a strategic push-back.

This is another world.

So, when I’m sitting with a CEO and his team and we’re talking about whether a set of values will resonate with the ‘whole team’, I try to imagine a team with someone from Bolsover in it.

Bolsover people are not stupid. Neither are they the lowest common denominators, in case I sound in any way disrespectful to my birthplace.

On the contrary. They are nobody’s fools.

They don’t work because they are passionate about what they do. They work because they need to earn a living. You earn their respect. It is not your entitlement.

This means that promoting values in this space is far tougher than within the walls of a boardroom because you can’t assume any kind of corporate motivation.

Ethics, ethos and behavioural policy are executive level decisions but they live and die behind ordinary desks, on standard production lines and in everyday online interactions.

So, are there any tips for passing the Bolsover Test for your values?

1. Make it a short list. Three values, in my opinion, is the gold standard. Four or five are fine. More than that and you can’t expect anyone to remember them.
2. Use single words. Paragraphs of explanation are fine and context is important. But when someone asks what your values are, they are really asking for a simple list.
3. Use plain language. Not boardroom speak or jargon.
4. Don’t choose a value that is expected in your line of business. For example, don’t use any word synonymous with ‘trust’ if you’re a lawyer.
5. Given a choice, the odder the better. Values — if based on truth — are a competitive advantage. So try to find words that are distinctively different, even if they’re not 100% accurate.
6. (The tough one.) Could you give someone a part rise for behaving in line with the value? Or tell them off because they didn’t? If not, the values are too soft. Appraisals, rewards, promotions and dismissals can all relate to values if they’re the right ones.

If you insist on scrutinising your values with these six points in mind, you make life difficult for yourself.

However, I think if your values pass the test, they will be more memorable, refreshingly different and, most importantly, extra effective where it matters.

In Bolsover or anywhere else.