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46 CHAPTER 2

There’s a lot I find appealing in this story. It gives a strong nod to the past, and in
so doing it links the changes the company is undergoing to an underlying foundation
that speaks to continuity. It recognizes that values are an intrinsic part of the way this
company has always conducted business, the air it breathes. And it speaks to the inclu-
sionary nature of the process of articulating values for the current generation of staff
members.
Because the issue of values has been addressed in great detail in the previous chap-
ter, I don’t feel there is a need to say much more about the topic here. I would like to
point out that these values—and the democratic processes by which there were
derived—inform everything else the company does. Hires are made on the basis of fit
with these core values. So too are decisions regarding which vendors to use, other
companies that Melaver, Inc. might consider engaging in joint ventures with, even
such seemingly matter-of-fact business decisions as choosing a debt provider or an
insurance underwriter. Price takes a back seat to values. I have often heard team mem-
bers say, “The most expensive course of action we can take is simply choosing the
cheapest option.” Values, by contrast, are priceless.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
What does a values-driven organization look like? How is it organized? Does it look
like and function as a typical business? Or should it be structured differently? Strange
questions for a business to be asking itself. At Melaver, Inc., the management team
of approximately ten staff members consists of C-level leaders (CEO, COO, CFO)
plus various divisional heads. One of my first steps after working with the entire
company on core values was to work specifically with this management team (called
“Sanskrit,” the origin of which is explained later on) on how the company should be
organized.

Circling the Organizational Square
In early meetings to create an organizational chart, the management team drew all kinds
of wild and wacky designs. Sure, there was the inevitable tree-branched hierarchy,
starting with the CEO and trailing down to the COO, then the Sanskrit management
team, and downward through the various reporting relationships. But most of the
designs sketched out by the management team shared a basic common denominator:
everyone reported first and foremost to the company’s core values. From there,
accountability was toward the company’s various stakeholders (customers, sharehold-
ers, vendors, other colleagues, etc.). At the very bottom of the hierarchy, it was felt, was
Sanskrit—the management team—itself. The end result was a concentric circle orga-
nizational diagram, best viewed with 3-D glasses (see Figure 2.1). The result was so
unusual that the team was not sure they could present it to the board of the company!
As you can see from the new universe created, Melaver is a leading edge company
that wants to place the company’s values in the center (or core) of the company uni-
verse. To accomplish outcomes in the business units, the employees flow through the
company’s universe led by the values. Most companies have organization structures