Why is it that some projects that we take on are really fulfilling and they satisfy us and they're really energizing? And then others we take on can totally drain us to the point that we've got no energy to do anything else. And one of the factors in this equation is values alignment, or I guess misalignment, depending on which way the cookie crumbles. And that's what we're going to be exploring today the concept of values alignment and energy when it comes to picking our projects. So welcome to the Values Lab, a podcast series for founders and portfolio career professionals seeking inspiration to live a more values-led life. And I'm your host this week, Vera Intukra, founder of In the Game and Values Map. And the inspiration for this week's episode was from my conversation with Shelly. And there was a really big theme throughout our conversation about this concept of energy and sustainability. And I thought, let's unpack this through the lens of values. So something I see fairly often in the space we operate in is that a project opportunity will come our way, and we might aminar about taking this project opportunity. And we kind of sit on the fence and maybe we just then decide to take the project on. And quickly we realize we're maybe a couple of weeks into it, that we've made a little bit of a mistake, and all of a sudden we're kind of feeling pretty drained and tired by this project. And there's a bigger cost to this for us because it's not just feeling tired from doing the work, but what I've seen happen, and I've kind of experienced this myself, is that energy drain kind of filters through to other aspects of running the business. So then you're a little bit fatigued to do the marketing side of things. You don't focus as much on the content, you don't reach out to as many people, you know, as having as many catch-ups, because this project you've taken on, or a couple of projects you might have taken on really like are really um draining you. And I think there's an interesting difference here between when we're working on projects where we're aligned and they're hard work. And what I tend to find is those kinds of projects fuel us, they give us energy. And again, if I talk from my own personal experiences, when I'm in that mode where I might have a couple of really good projects on, they're really well aligned, but then I've got a lot of energy to do all the other things as well. So I like actually I can do more marketing, I can do more content, I really want to reach out to more people. There's this good flow of energy going on. But the opposite happens and I kind of all the other stuff diminishes a lot. And it can be a difficult cycle to break out of. Once you get into it, you're tired. Because as we know, if we don't do all the other stuff, it's the stuff that's building the pipeline and helping the business grow. Once we crash out of this project, then we're kind of left with our a uphill struggle. So it can be tempted to take on these projects. There's there's there's reasons why we do that, of course. You know, there can be cash flow issues where we need to take on work that that's misaligned. Um, and values alignment is not the only factor. There's a bunch of other things at play. But obviously today we'll we'll focus on values alignment because I find when we take projects on that have got good values alignment, we get this energy flowing and we end up in a better state. But there's exceptions to this, and context is always really, really important. So, what I'll do is really, I'll talk you through a bit of an example. So let's say we're on the um on the fence about a project. Uh, we're not sure um whether to go ahead with it or not. I'll walk through a process that I use where I'll kind of evaluate the opportunity against my values. And so essentially what this will require you to do is you list out your values. So for me, you know, fun, freedom, creativity, growth, and achievement are mine. And so I've got those five values. And what I've now developed is a bit of a process. There's a kind of indicators that I look for of whether the project's going to be values aligned or not. So I'll I'll take you through my framework, and hopefully that gives you a little bit of inspiration about how you might take your personal values and turn them into a similar framework. So if we start off with the first one, which is fun, um how do we kind of evaluate whether this opportunity is going to be fun or not? And actually, one of the biggest indicators I look for in the initial conversation with a client is if there's a presence of laughter. Now, we're obviously talking about serious topics when we're talking about kind of culture and people, uh, but can we still do that in a light-hearted way? Again, are we still bringing a sense of humor? And again, this cut this concept of laughter comes up. You know, are we kind of laughing about some of the um odd things that happen in the people and culture space? So that client indicator, that that first meeting is a a big indicator for me whether there's a fun vibe in this. Is that basically it comes down to the people I'm going to be working with? Can they bring a bit of lightness and bring a bit of light on light heartedness to what is a serious thing? And so, will I enjoy working with the people that I'm going to be interacting a lot with on the on the project? So that's one of the things I look for when I'm thinking about fun. Um, if we then take the next value of freedom, now with this one, the big consideration for me is what level of autonomy will I get with this project? So, you know, for especially a core component of my work is facilitation work. And so that I've got to be there at set times. There's, you know, um, there's certain dates things are booked in for, and I've got to be there. So there's no not freedom in the sense of me picking my hours, but I think the thing I will look for is how much freedom is there in the approach and methodology. So the red flags for me, and again, these often will come up in that initial conversation, is how heavy does the bureaucracy seem with this? How, when we're talking through the process, how many sign-off steps are there going to be? Um, how many people are going to be involved in signing things off? And actually, because a lot of the work I do is co-design, the openness is really important. It's not just about me saying, hey, this is my way of doing things, but the freedom is often around let's figure out what the best way is. Let's not go into this thinking there's only one way, but let's figure out uh the best way uh through the iterative process. So freedom and that that kind of iterative process go hand in hand for me. And if I feel like that's not going to be there, again, there's a bit of a bit of a question mark and a bit of a cross there. Creativity. Um for me, it's is there going to be a lot of opportunities to try new things that maybe the client hasn't done before? Are they open to experimentation and innovation? Or are they looking for a stock standard way of doing things? Um, so again, this is quite easy to test in the in the initial client conversation to kind of when we're talking talking through what they envision envision success looks like, um, how fixed they are to a certain way of doing things, um, you'll get a sense on that creativity slider whether kind of there is an openness to creativity or not. So for growth, growth is a big one for me in that I want to be kind of stretched. And so the the challenge of being stretched is that you know, when you're working in the same domain space, that's one of the reasons they're hiring you. You know what you're doing, you know what you're doing. Um and you're not figuring out or how to deliver those things on the job. So the domain part is relatively fixed. So the growth has to come through having the capacity to use other methods to get um a successful outcome or an even better outcome than I've done before. So I think this is the thing for me. Is I may have done something in X-Way before and it worked really well, but I want to kind of take it to that next level. So is there opportunities to not not just repeat what I've done before, but actually introduce things that might be different that hopefully will get us a better outcome than I've had previously? And I kind of see in this particular domain that there is this link, there's this through line between growth, creativity, and fun in that is there just going to be opportunities to do things in a in a new and novel, a novel way. Um, I think there is that connection between the three, but there's a little bit of a different lens. And then the last values alignment indicator I look for against is against achievement. And for me, it's is this piece of work meaningful and important to the organization? And the best way to check this is how well linked to the strategy is it? I like doing work that is likely to have an impact. And the best test is is it a lot is it strategically important? Does it align to the strategy? And again, there's a there's a few ways of testing this. The first is can I see that direct line? So when I'm talking to the client, is does this sit in the org strategy at the org strategy level? Um the other piece is that, and it's quite important for the type of work that I do, is that executive leaders are also involved in basically a lot of the conversations that we're having. If the exec kind of take a hands-off approach, for me it indicates it's not strategically important and it's probably not going to have the kind of impact that I like to have. So for me, achievement is about a big part of it, is about impact, kind of going in, working with an organization, and then that gets great results. And I find if it's not linked to the strategy and there's no ELT involvement, it's for me, it's unlikely there's going to be real impact. And so that the project doesn't feel like it would be a great one to take on. So that that's the so essentially what's happened is I've got my five variables and against it, uh sorry, five values, and against each of those values, I've got indicators that suggest to me whether this is going to be values aligned or not. And as I mentioned up top, it's not these kinds of things don't operate in a bit of a vacuum. So it's not always just about values alignment. It might not be perfectly aligned on every metric. There might be cash flow considerations. So maybe I need to take on a project that's slightly less values aligned. But it's something I'll definitely consider when I'm sitting, like I'll get a new opportunity. It's consider all those variables plus other ones. But the values alignment piece is really important because I know if I take on a project that's not values aligned, I know the consequences and cost of that for the long-term sustainability of the of the business. So, key next step for you is like take your take your values, take your three to five core values, and then come up with one or two kind of indicators for each of those values. Ideally, indicators that will you'll be able to use early in the discovery process with a client before you've signed up to the piece of work. So it's a bit, and then this becomes a little bit of your checklist for you, alongside all the other things that you might consider when taking on a project. So before you decide to go ahead with it, run it through your checklist, check for alignment. It doesn't need to be perfect. And bear in mind there's other factors, obviously, for running a business, but the values alignment piece is really important. Um and if there's something you have a go at, I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear some of the indicators you've come up with. What's your version of the laughter test? Um I'd love to see what kind of things you um you come up with. And this concept of any energy management and values, I think, is a really interesting one because it applies to project selection, but I think it also applies to things like how we structure our week and how we structure our day. And there'll definitely be things I um explore in future conversations.