- Focus on the user and all else will follow.
- It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
- Fast is better than slow.
- Democracy on the web works.
- You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
- You can make money without doing evil.
- There’s always more information out there.
- The need for information crosses all borders.
- You can be serious without a suit.
- Great just isn’t good enough.
As a technology company, Google’s priorities are a bit different. Their values also reflect the industry (and the company itself) in their tone, which is a bit less formal and more philosophical in nature. On Google's philosophy page, they don't just list their core values -- they also provide examples. For instance, consider their value, “You can make money without doing evil” would work just as well as the title of a TED Talk as it does a core value for a business. While many companies likely are boasting about integrity, Google makes its efforts to avoid "evil" business, including -- "We don’t allow ads to be displayed on our results pages unless they are relevant where they are shown … We don’t accept pop–up advertising, which interferes with your ability to see the content you’ve requested ... [and] Advertising on Google is always clearly identified as a 'Sponsored Link,' so it does not compromise the integrity of our search results."
Ultimately, a core value doesn't have much power if your company can't list intentional, calculated decisions it's made to put values ahead of profit.
Coca Cola
- Leadership: The courage to shape a better future.
- Collaboration: Leverage collective genius.
- Integrity: Be real.
- Accountability: If it is to be, it's up to me.
- Passion: Committed in heart and mind.
- Diversity: As inclusive as our brands.
- Quality: What we do, we do well.
Coca Cola demonstrates its diversity core value with its public Global Diversity Mission page, which lists the company's diversity-related efforts.
Additionally, Coca Cola's Global Diversity Mission page exemplifies their commitment to accountability, as well -- they've publicly included pie charts with statistics regarding their global employee gender and race ratios. By acknowledging both their efforts and their shortcomings, Coca Cola is able to show their desire to live with their values, while taking responsibility to minimise the distance of their ideals and reality.
What We Can Learn
One thing your business certainly should not do is to just lift a more established business’ core values and take them for your own. Of course you might share some values with other companies, but you need to spend time thinking very seriously about who your brand and business is and what you truly stand for. You can’t simply use someone else’s work to stand in for your own.
