Company values: the test that reveals what’s real
Every brand says it has values. Calvin Ross Carl shares the one question that shows whether they’re real: what are you willing to lose money on?
Summary
Calvin Ross Carl defines values as how a company behaves at its core, and points out that every brand has them in some form. The test Parliament uses is blunt: what are you willing to lose money on? Real values drive decisions, including the costly ones.
Highlights
- Values are how a company behaves at its core.
- Every brand has values of some sort.
- The test: what are you willing to lose money on?
Key insights
Values show up in behavior
A value isn’t a word on a wall. It’s how the company actually acts, especially when it’s inconvenient.
Cost is the proof
If a value has never cost you anything, it’s a preference. The decisions you’d make even when they lose money are the ones that define you.
Detailed analysis
The question cuts through generic value statements quickly. Asking a leadership team what they’d lose money on turns abstract words into concrete trade-offs, and it surfaces which values the business actually runs on.
Conclusion
Values are real when they cost you something. If you wouldn’t lose money for it, it isn’t a value yet.
Values are the way that a company behaves at their core. And all brands have values of some sort. And the way we always test if values are true is we ask them: what are you willing to lose money on? You make decisions based on your values.