I’ve just joined the HiveMind network. While waiting for the confirmatory interview I was invited to review the network’s values. During the interview, it was made clear that confirmation was contingent upon my agreeing to these ‘values’.
It is conventional for contemporary organisations to equip themselves with a set of espoused values, just as HiveMind has done. For convenience, they are printed below.
The bedrock of the network
1. Challenge conventional thinking, always
2. Do work we are passionate about, first and foremost.
3. Earn respect through knowledge, not hierarchy.
4. Demonstrate generosity of spirit in all that we do.
5. Demonstrate deep knowledge combined with humility.
6. Act with fairness, positivity and reciprocity towards one another.
7. Believe that asking for strength is a sign of strength, not weakness.
8. Recognise that we are stronger together.
It is less conventional to challenge them, yet this is my intent. Consider the following provocative statement.
‘Our espoused values do not matter a damn unless they are underpinned by observable and consistent behaviours that become the cultural norm’.
It is my hope that HiveMind members behaviours, not espoused values, are the actual bedrock of the HiveMind network.
Interestingly enough, the eight ‘values’ which HiveMind presents are not actually values at all. Values are commonly expressed as nouns or adjectives but the HiveMind ‘values’ all begin with a verb. This
makes them behaviours instead of values.
Let us drill deeper into each of these behaviours. What might each HiveMind member say or do that would evidence each of them. Or, since, I cannot speak for others, what might I say or do.
1. Challenge conventional thinking, always
Yes, I’m more than happy to challenge conventional thinking, yet I baulk at the ‘always’. Why? My experience as a human being has taught me that being agreeable will get me further than being confrontational, even when the latter might appear warranted. One can rarely gather honey by kicking over the hive (no pun intended).
There is a well-regarded psychological instrument called the FIRO-B (Fundamental Interpersonal Orientation- Behaviour) developed by Will Schutz in the middle of the last century. The theory underpinning this instrument is that, in our relationship with others, influence is impossible unless preceded by inclusion. This might be paraphrased to say that I am unlikely to listen to your ideas unless I first respect you and accept you as a person with something useful to say. The seed cannot grow where the soil is not receptive. So, even where circumstances warrant a challenge to conventional thinking, my first priority is to ensure that the other party is likely to be receptive. This requires relationship building, first and foremost.
[The reader will recognize the paradox here. This same logic would tell me that I’m wasting my time, as a new member, submitting this article that challenges HiveMind’s ‘bedrock’. How impertinent!]
Another reason I baulk at the ‘always’ is that conventional thinking is, in the main, correct and based on sound evidence. Yes, the sun rises in the east; yes, traffic regulations are generally for the benefit of all users. There are times when I might challenge conventional thinking. Most of the time, I will not.
2. Do work we are passionate about, first and foremost.
Since I can neither speak nor act for others, my preference here would be to ‘Do work that I am passionate about, first and foremost’.
This is an ideal that I happily pursue, recognizing that, from time to time, my work might be less exciting, yet it pays the bills.
3. Earn respect through knowledge, not hierarchy.
This is a little tricky. It is something I might strive for yet its attainment is outside of my control. The granting of respect is for others. So perhaps an alternate wording might be: ‘Strive to earn respect through demonstrating and/or sharing knowledge, not through hierarchy.
4. Demonstrate generosity of spirit in all that we do.
As with point 2 above, my preference is for the first-person pronoun, ‘I’, here. So a rephrase might be: ‘I am generous in my words and my actions.’
5. Demonstrate deep knowledge combined with humility.
Perhaps a caveat is warranted here: “I contribute knowledge in those areas, and only in those areas, where I have both experience and deep understanding. And I recognise always the possibility that my knowledge may be either limited or flawed’.
Again, there is a paradox here. The more I know, the less I know. Or definitionally: ‘Knowledge – the growing awareness of my ignorance’.
6. Act with fairness, positivity and reciprocity towards one another.
Since I cannot control what others may do, my preferred rephrasing is: “I act with fairness, positivity and reciprocity towards others.”
7. Believe that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Possible rephasing: ‘I believe that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and I act accordingly.”
8. Recognise that we are stronger together.
Recognition is an abstract concept. What might this phrase look like if it expressed concrete behaviour denoted in the first person? Here is a suggestion.
‘Because I recognise the strength of the HiveMind collective, I seek out opportunities within which I can involve others. Further, when invited by a fellow HiveMind member, I’m responsive in honouring that invitation”
Back to the confirmatory question as to whether I will honour the HiveMind values, my response is to acknowledge and accept the spirit in which they are offered. Further, I suggest they be rephrased as behavours, present tense, first person, as follows:
1. As appropriate, and in the context of an established relationship, I am willing to challenge conventional thinking. Further, I’m willing to be challenged on my thinking.
2. I seek to do work that I am passionate about, first and foremost.
3. I strive to earn respect through demonstrating and/or sharing knowledge, not through hierarchy.
4. I am generous in my words and my actions.
5. I contribute knowledge in those areas, and only in those areas, where I have both experience and deep understanding. And I recognise always the possibility that my knowledge may be either limited or flawed.
6. I act with fairness, positivity and reciprocity towards others.
7. I believe that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and I act accordingly.
8. Because I recognise the strength of the HiveMind collective, I seek out opportunities within which I can involve others. Further, when invited by a fellow HiveMind member, I’m responsive in honouring that invitation.
And I’d like to suggest a ninth.
9. I invest in the HiveMind community with no expectation of a return.
By way of explanation: I often work with voluntary associations and put to members the question: ‘Do you get anything out of this association?’ – to which the answer is inevitably ‘Yes’. I then equip myself with a full jug of water and invite each member to hold up an empty glass. I announce that the jug represents their association. Moving from member to member, I repeat the question, filling each person’s glass as they respond in the affirmative. The point is reached where I attempt to fill someone’s glass from a jug that is now empty. I then ask: ‘Who is filling the jug?’ Unless the members do that, the association’s capacity to support its members quickly becomes zero.
This document is offered with a sense of humility. I’m not particularly wedded to any of these ideas and I invite alternate viewpoints. In fact, it seems to me, that we, as HiveMinders, can only become more cohesive and collaborative if we actively engage intellectually and then behaviourally with the ‘glue’ that seeks to unite us.
So your thoughts and comments are invited.
Ian Plowman
4th April 2019.
With thanks to fellow HiveMinder, Bard Papegaaji, for helpful edits and suggestions.
