Council Post: Want Innovation? Bring Family Values To The Workplace

Israel has rightly been dubbed “innovation nation.” It ranks as the 100th country in terms of population, yet dominates all countries besides the United States and China by number of IPOs. What makes Israel so innovative is the embedded family culture that carries on from family to army to startup.

Innovation is what all companies strive for, and in today’s new economy, many of the most successful companies credit their innovative success to how they work together in a “family culture.” A family culture at work is made up of teams that stand for and live six family values. In the last decade, we have seen a breakdown in traditional families, but a yearning for family characteristics and values in the workplace.

Think of classic American family shows like Leave it to Beaver, and you’ll see how, historically, families value honor, respect and resilience. Back then, a family was in the business of constant care. They would care for each other through the good, the bad and the ugly, and take failures as lessons to grow. Everyone in the family had a place to come home, feel comfortable, be themselves, and take risks in becoming who they truly were meant to be.

Today, the best companies on the edge of innovation are also the most traditional when it comes to implementing these family values. Innovation only happens when there is trust and a sense of belonging, as it is only through this stability that team members take the risks required to innovate and keep your company ahead of the competition.

The following are the six family values that we must bring to the workplace:

Family Values From Home To Work

1. ‘Just be yourself.’ In a family, parents let you be the most authentic version of yourself, and even if it’s a little “weird,” they love and accept you anyway. The foundation of both teams and families begins with the encouragement of full self-expression without fear of negative consequences. Through encouraging everyone in the “family” to be themselves, companies build a culture that encourages the sharing of the craziest of ideas — even if they seem half-baked — without tearing others down. They look for and encourage different viewpoints at every opportunity and value everyone’s most authentic self.

2. ‘You always have your family.’ Your family knows your personality, they know your quirks, and they genuinely care for you. A family gives you a sense of belonging and a feeling of comfort. Families value quality time as a whole and one-on-one quality time to strengthen relationships. Spending quality time with your family increases engagement with your kids, just like spending quality time with your team increases engagement on your teams. Currently, you can see younger generations such as millennials and Gen Z building micro-communities with this value in all aspects of their lives, and work is certainly no exception.

3. ‘Reach for the stars.’ Families support aspirations. When you know someone in your family is aspiring to be something, you support them fully. Families know what everyone in the family aspires to be and support each other in reaching their goals. At work, learning about the aspirations of your teammates and supporting those aspirations builds that family value and strengthens the future of your workforce.

4. ‘What did you learn?’ When you mess up as a kid, your parents don’t focus on the fact that you made a mistake, they focus on what you learned from your mistakes. As a leader, do you focus on what your team has learned through their mistakes? Or is the focus on the mistake? “Family” is a place where everyone is committed to the development of each person, and this idea carries into our teams. This supports a growth mindset, embraces future mistakes and provides opportunities for development.

5. ‘Stick with it.’ Families value good coping skills to stand firmly together during a crisis. They learn to embrace whatever obstacles are in their way and work through them together. They help support each other so that all can develop good coping skills during tough times. At work, when you value good coping skills, you build the resilience on your team to help get you through tough times like a family would.

6. ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated.’ For some reason, when people get to the workplace, they often forget this value. Families focus on effective communication through giving and seeking quality feedback with care. They approach their communication in a way that makes everyone else become better. In the workplace, recent research reveals that emerging leaders want higher quality feedback, and they want it more frequently. They want a coach, not a boss. Given this need for faster, more effective, and more transparent communication, the Golden Rule is a primary value to bring to the workplace.

When family values are implemented in the workplace, the culture breeds innovation. Today’s next-generation leaders, Gen Y and Gen Z, did not necessarily experience the family values of the 1950s. They are not just asking for but demanding cultures that provide this missing link to support their growth and aspirations. They want to be known, respected, listened to and provoked. As a leader, when you focus on building a place where everyone knows who you truly are, and everyone is treated as a part of a family, you will create a team that is committed, innovative and excited to come “home” every day.