Values

WHO	Group
WHERE	Group-room
YOU NEED	Post-it's, pen, paper, A2 paper
FACILITATOR	Host

Intention:

The intention of this exercise is to become aware of your values. Values are internalized attitudes about what is right and wrong, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral. Values are often taken for granted but are important because they influence a person's preferences, perception of problems, and choice of behavior. Working with values helps to uncover what's important for you, and what consciously and unconsciously affects your decisions and behavior. Your own moral compass.

We start with this exercise to anchor our personal direction in deeply held beliefs we hold about the world. In the age of rapid change and increased complexity, it can be useful to have a deeply anchored personal direction to avoid being pushed around by external forces or to keep a steady focus on hectic workdays. Remember that this is a personal process and should be treated as such. All answers must be found through introspection, which is a private process of looking inwards. In other words, put external expectations of you aside.

How:

1	(10min) Solo Start with an internal reflection where you decide on 10-15 values that you think are important to you. Use the list below if needed. Write each value on individual post its. You can also find your own. Try to follow your intuition, and quickly pick out words that you feel should be a part of the pool. Link to "List of values"
2	(50min, 25min per person) Buddy (Full focus on one person at a time) With the help of your buddy narrow down your list to the 6-8 most important values. After identifying your top values, it's time to go even deeper. Work with your buddy to narrow it down to as few as possible. Use some time to put them up against each other to see which of them are the most important to you. Rank them or create a hierarchy.
3	(20min) Solo When you have 3-5 values. Spend some time to reflect on how they play out in your day to day life. Values like "autonomy" or "integrity" might mean something different for two different people. Try to craft a sentence that makes it more clear how you act on that value in your daily life. Work to identify practical examples (past experiences) of how they play out, and affect your reasoning, feelings, behavior, and thought patterns.
4	(30min) Group Share your key takeaways with the rest of your group.

References

“Personal Values.” 2019. Psychology Wiki. Accessed September 2. https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Personal_values.