This article begins with a statement of the following corporate values: communication, respect, integrity, and excellence. These are the meaningless values stated in Enron's 2000 annual report. Most value statements, according to Lencioni, create cynical employees, alienate customers and undermine management's credibility. To develop a meaningful set of values he recommends organizing  values into four categories as follows:

Many organizations confuse aspirational values with core values. Values do not become core values by placing them in a corporate values statement.

Values need to be authentic. Motherhood-and-apple-pie values statements such as integrity, teamwork, ethics, quality, customer satisfaction and innovation don't set an organization apart from competitors.

Lencioni argues that values initiatives should not be developed by building a consensus. Instead values initiatives should impose a set of fundamental, strategically sound beliefs on a broad group of people. The best values are developed by a small group including any founders, the CEO, and a handful of key employees. This process should not be rushed.

After an authentic set of core values are established, they need to be integrated into every employee related process (e.g., hiring, performance measurements, criteria for promotions and rewards, and dismissal policies) constantly reminding employees that core values form the basis for every decision the organization makes. Core values should be embedded into the system and continuously promoted and reinforced. Wal-Mart is mentioned as an example of a company that applies the recommendations presented in this article.

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