Look at what the organisation is learning
A values statement tells people what you hope matters. Repeated experience tells them what actually does.
Your responses suggest the first useful investigation may be the culture created through repeated decisions, reactions and incentives. A values statement cannot tell you on its own what people have learned is safe or worthwhile.
This is a starting hypothesis, not a judgement about your ability.
Does any of this look familiar?
- People say they value candour but hesitate to share bad news.
- The formal decision process differs from what people have learned will get rewarded.
- Managers escalate issues because that appears safer than taking ownership.
These are examples to consider, not claims about what your own responses prove.
Why this pattern might persist
Culture is influenced by repeated behaviour and the conditions around it. When people are rewarded for certainty, punished for difficult information or repeatedly relieved of responsibility, they may adapt quite rationally. Ed’s recipe approach asks you to examine the system producing the behaviour, not merely judge the people displaying it. Wider incentives, role design and genuine constraints must also be considered.
One experiment to run this week
You don't need to buy anything to begin. Choose a manageable situation and gather some evidence.
- Choose one desired behaviour
For example: raising issues early, making appropriately delegated decisions or asking for help sooner.
- Ask three people
Ask what usually happens when someone demonstrates that behaviour. Seek examples, not general opinions.
- Compare words with experience
Where do stated values, formal rules and everyday consequences disagree?
- Change one reinforcement
Change one meeting practice, escalation rule or response. Observe whether the behaviour becomes easier and safer to demonstrate.
Three questions worth keeping
- What behaviour are we actually rewarding?
- What happens to someone who brings unwelcome information?
- Which rule is written down, and which rule is learned?
Ed's principles: Find the recipe · Mission, mastery, freedom and belonging.
What this result does NOT mean
A 16-question self-report is not a validated clinical or psychological assessment. It cannot identify the single cause of a leadership or organisational problem. Your other three dimensions and any close scores also matter. Another person may see the same situation differently.
In the original quiz, each dimension is scored from 0 to 12. The lowest score is shown as a possible starting point. Equal lowest scores use the disclosed order Self → Relational → Cultural → Leading leaders. This page does not independently calculate or verify that score.
Where to go next
When culture is the starting point, more reminders about values may not help until everyday structures and responses make those values usable.
Try the experiment first. If you'd like to explore a concrete pattern with Ed, get in touch through edley.net, or reply to an email you've already received from him. No programme place, price or outcome is promised here.
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Your diagnostic result identifies a possible starting point. The report explains the wider pattern: how a CEO's strengths can unintentionally increase the organisation's dependence on them, and how to investigate the causes rather than chase symptoms.
The free report includes a self-assessment and a practical seven-day experiment.
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