By Jill Woller, CVS-Life, FSAVE, and Travis Godsoe, VMA
A primary aspect of value methodology is the re-evaluation of what is truly important to a project or process, and value practitioners themselves are not immune to the need to look within as well as without. This month in Value World we hone in on core values.
In our Education Forum you will find part three of four in a terrific series on the core competency of cost analysis within the value methodology, this time focused on return on investment.
In another article, Don Parker, the Director of the Lawrence D. Miles Value Foundation (MVF), describes the importance of reducing abstraction in our definitions to gain an accurate view of function costs. The MVF also announces the 2nd edition of the VM Pocket Guide, a resource that allows our practitioners to keep VM principles close to their hearts, both figuratively and literally.
A piece by Damon R. Yeutter, “Trustworthy, Generous and Others-Centered,” compares the core values of a Seattle restaurant’s service to the application of those same values within the phases of the VM job plan.
Re-evaluation doesn’t always offer easy answers, though it is always worth the effort.
Recently, a friend who was struggling to run a small engineering firm approached one of us. He was concerned because it was not his field, as his father had passed it down to him. The firm had been fighting to establish its worth in an industry that featured much bigger players with much greater resources. We spoke about how the value methodology can help not only to find out-of-the-box solutions, but also to refocus around the true purpose and value of the object being studied.
Of course, these core values are only a part of the picture, and the external world demands adaptation. It is often a question of finding balance between the two.
As you make your preparations for the fast-approaching 2018 Value Summit in June, consider the ways in which you have been challenged in your core values over the past year. We would encourage you to share your experience with us, both at the Summit and in the pages of Value World.
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