Show Me Your Values

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Identify informal or operational values driving a group or project by pairing visual metaphors with concrete workplace stories.

Use it when: Use during cultural audits, project retrospectives, or organizational shifts when official mission statements do not reflect everyday operational norms.

Skip it when: Skip when team psychological safety is too low for candid workplace critique, or when participants lack shared workplace history to draw anecdotes from.

Group arrangement: Individual image selection followed by whole-room gallery sharing and discussion.

Timing: Source suggests 30 to 45 minutes for 5 to 10 players. 35 minutes provides balanced individual work and sharing time.

Materials and tools

• Assortment of magazines across diverse genres (3 to 4 magazines per person)
• 1 pair of scissors per person
• Rolls of masking tape or painter's tape (1 roll per 3 people)
• Dry-erase or permanent markers (3 to 4 markers for facilitator capture)
• Large wall surface, whiteboard, or butcher paper labeled with the focal topic

Before participants arrive

1. Label the top of a large wall or whiteboard with the designated focus topic (for example, 'Our Department Culture' or 'Project Mercury').
2. Spread magazines, scissors, and tape evenly across work tables so everyone can reach them immediately.

Say this to open

Welcome. Today we examine the values that actually guide our work around [topic]. Official values often live on paper, but real values show up in daily choices. You have ten minutes to browse these magazines and cut out one or two images that capture an underlying value you observe here. For example, a picture of a turtle might represent patience or risk avoidance. Once you find an image, think of one specific workplace situation that illustrates that value in action. Candor is welcome, whether the value is positive, frustrating, or funny.

How to run it

1. Introduce topic and search for images 10 minutes

   State the topic clearly. Direct participants to skim magazines and cut out one or two pictures that symbolize perceived values. Tell them they can search with a specific value in mind or browse until an image sparks a realization. Keep time and give a two-minute warning.

2. Post images and reflect on stories 5 minutes

   Have participants tape their cutouts onto the designated wall area around the topic title. Give participants two quiet minutes to identify a specific, real workplace story or anecdote that demonstrates the value behind their selected image.

3. Share stories and label values 15 minutes

   Invite volunteers to present their image and tell their accompanying story in one to two minutes each. As each person speaks, write the exact value word they name directly beside their image on the wall. Continue until everyone who wants to share has spoken. Allow participants to pass or co-present if they prefer.

4. Analyze overlaps and debrief 5 minutes

   Direct the group to step back and examine the wall. Guide a five-minute discussion comparing official values with the emergent values captured on the board, noting common patterns, contradictions, and surprises.

Debrief questions

• Which values on this wall mirror our official statements, and which ones are unwritten rules?
• Where do our perceived values contradict one another in day-to-day work?
• What is one value posted here that we want to keep, and one we need to retire?

Finished output: A visual gallery of cut-out images annotated with participant-named operational values and recorded stories.

Remote

Set up an online whiteboard with a blank canvas titled with the focus topic. Provide 10 minutes for participants to use web image search or royalty-free photo sites to grab 1 or 2 images and paste them onto the board. Run story sharing via video conference, typing value labels next to images as speakers present.

Hybrid

In-person participants tape magazine images to a room whiteboard while remote members paste digital images onto a mirrored virtual canvas. Project the virtual canvas on the room screen and share video of the physical wall so both cohorts view the combined gallery. Alternate speakers between in-person and remote participants during the storytelling phase.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may sketch an image or write a single metaphoric phrase on an index card instead of cutting magazine pages.
• Sharing stories is voluntary; participants may post an image with a written tag and decline verbal elaboration without justification.

If the session gets stuck

A participant cannot find an image that matches their exact thought.

Remind them that any abstract shape, color, animal, or landscape can serve as a metaphor. Alternatively, let them write a metaphoric word or draw a symbol on blank paper.

Someone shares a sensitive or critical story that creates tension in the room.

Acknowledge the candor without judgment, write the core value term neutrally on the board (for example, 'Cautiousness' or 'Siloing'), and return focus to operational habits rather than personal blame.

Terms used here

• Underlying values: The informal, often unspoken principles and assumptions that actually govern decisions and daily behavior in a group.