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Silent rants in a meeting

Sitting in a meeting with unaligned values. Not useful. Silent rants happen.

What do values, 20 dollars and silent rants have in common?

Joe and I were sitting in a meeting together listening to the speakers work their way through the agenda.
I could sense Joe’s aggravation grow the more the meeting dragged on. The discussions around agenda items degenerated. The speaker dove into details not relevant to the group but were interesting to the speaker and a couple others in the room.
Joe groaned a little too loudly at the last comments. The speaker mentioned how he secured a $20 donation for the non-profit we were attending after spending 2 hours working on a project. That one made me groan too.
Joe’s values of money, efficiency and effectiveness were being stomped on.

20 dollar billThe Clash of Values and silent rants

Joe likes things to run smoothly, quickly and decisively. $20 for 2 hours of 2 people’s work was not it.
The meeting was being run by people whose values centered on camaraderie and shared experiences. Money, efficiencies and effectiveness were not priorities nor important values. The values clashed with Joe’s values and came out in almost silent rants from Joe.
Values are those things that are important to you in ways you sometimes may not be able to identify. Nonetheless, values are your “Big Why.”

The Big Why

Why do you do what you do? Why do you want what you want? It’s that “why” that points to values.
Your actions and choices you make, day-in and day-out, point to your values. Your actions hint at values.
Values lay the foundation for your decisions, wants and goals. The better aligned you are with your values the more apt you are to achieve your goals.
Decisions will become easier once you clarify and articulate your values. The sense of why you do something becomes much stronger.

Values carry you through “daily doubles”

Have you ever heard, “If you truly want something the universe will conspire to make it happen?” There’s a corollary to that statement. The universe’s conspiracy will include getting you ready for what you want.
To get ready you may have to go through “daily doubles” to get in shape, learn new skills, adopt new disciplines, gain new habits and break all those bad habits. It can be painful.
If you aren’t clear about your “big why” the daily doubles will seem like torture and you just might quit or silently rant in a meeting (or maybe not so silently).

Unaligned values means wasted time and energy

It’s a waste of time to spend energy, time, and resources when values are not aligned. Joe’s values were not aligned with the speaker’s values and the way the agenda was carried out. This ultimately carried over to the “way things are done” in the organization.
Being deeply excited about something or getting a deep sense of satisfaction, things you are attracted to, and your rants all point to your values. If you think about it, it makes sense.
What values can you point to that are so deeply held you won’t bend on them no matter the cost?
Stop the silent rants. It’s easy. Get aligned.
Are your values aligned with what you do? your job? your activities? meetings you sit through? Why not?


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