Human Values Hack: the Three Telltale Questions

Employee Engagement and Workplace Culture Keynote Speaker David Allison

In every keynote I always share this simple hack to help folks uncover what people value. These three questions–the Three Telltale Questions–have been tested on people from all around the world across all types of industries and professions. They never fail to shed light on what people truly value.

Because here’s the thing: you can’t ask people directly about their values, because they will lie. Straight up, they will lie. After all, who is going to say that they don’t value Family? Or Environmentalism? Or Happiness? They will always paint a picture of themselves that they want you to see.

Now, let’s be real. The Three Telltatle Questions are not the most scientifically precise way to get a better answer. Humans are complex and three questions are only going to scratch the surface. But at least these questions are what is called “secondary lines of questioning” which will help people respond more honestly, without fear of looking bad.

Your job is to ask a lot of people these questions, and listen for the signals in the noise…the themes that keep bubbling to the surface. Those themes are values.

This video explains it all. You can change up the wording of the question so it sounds more like you. You can train others in the organization to ask these questions as if they were just casual conversation. You might even include these questions in your next employee survey. But regardless of how you do it, the secret to success here is quantity. You need to ask as many people as you can (from the group of people you want to understand) and keep track of the values that continually show themselves. And, again, keep in mind it’s not as accurate as the profiling we do for my keynotes, but it’s a start. And a start is better than not using values at all. Because we are all values-driven.

Values are the answer. Lets put them to work.

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