Torchbox's core organisational values

And, when we tried and failed to instantly recall our core values in a management meeting, we realised it was time to revisit them. We’ve been here before a couple of times, but we’ve failed to ingrain the core values deeply enough.

So we went back to them and did them again:

• We put together a working group of a few people from a few different areas of Torchbox
  
• We reminded ourselves what our existing core values were, then threw them out
  
• I swotted up on core values and what they mean and why we need them. Here’s a useful article ‘Make your core values mean something’ by Patrick Lencioni (note the difference between 'core values' and 'aspirational values')
  
• We had a look at a few other organisations' core values for inspiration. Our favourite was probably Atlassian’s
  
• We went through a ten pack of stickies: describing Torchbox with a game of boggle bingo (don't ask) in adjectives and adverbs to get a sense of what we are like, our traits and intentions
  
• We did a Mountains & Valleys exercise
  
• Then, individually, we wrote our top three, core values for Torchbox
  
• We reviewed and grouped them and marvelled at the level of agreement
  
• I went away and drafted the top values that had come out of the workshop, ending up with the four
  
• Tom and I then co-wrote them
  
• Then we shared with the working group and the team, and tweaked them based on feedback
  
• And, here they are…

We are an ethically driven company. We do great work with organisations that are making the world a better place.

We listen, thoughtfully. We work in our clients' best interests. Our goal is to exceed expectations.

We always look to improve: individually, and as a team. We learn new skills, improve our processes, and search for better solutions.

Half our waking hours are at work, so we make the most of them. We enjoy what we do, we respect our colleagues and we are proud of our company.