Values Based Initiatives Inc. is an unusual company I came across in a recent trip to upstate New York. In this trip I met with local leaders who share a vision of building a physical, technological, and educational infrastructure designed to accommodate The Future of Work in the Adirondacks Mountains (the subject of my last blog).

Among the leaders active in implementing this vision were two members of Values Base Initiatives Inc. Both have a background as executives in the IT and facilities management area with a successful track record with higher education institutions. So what kind of value-based initiative are they promoting? Breakthrough processes to value-engineer a university IT infrastructure? New financial models to increase shareholder value?

Not quite. What Dr Gard Meserve, the company founder, had in mind when he named Values Based Initiatives Inc. that way was “Core Values”. Highly unusual for a company that built its reputation providing IT consulting services to higher education institutions. Gard preferred starting point on a strategy assignment is not what’s broken with the current IT system, not what ERP will elevate the organization’s efficiency, but some introspection that goes to the core of the organization culture.

What are the organization core values? Are they well understood? How can one reinforce the values that help any organization be successful, such as passion, respect, self-confidence, integrity, or team work? Because, in the end, the enactment of these values throughout the organization is the #1 driver of value creation. Where universal moral values meet shareholder value!

Gard sees that all positive attributes most organizations would wish to embrace as core values can be wrapped up in one single word. One word that motivates people to do the right things. One word that is the basis for respect, which translates into effective team work. One word that easily extends into passion, which in turn drives dedication and intensity. One word that provides a strong foundation for integrity and business ethics, which drives loyalty and reliability. And one word that will help make the entire organization more motivated and more effective at implementing its business goals.

One simple and powerful concept Gard calls “Love”.Think about it.


Laurent Dhollande
Chief Executive Officer
Pacific Workplaces

Pacific Workplaces is a brand of PBC Management LLC, a fast growing operator of business centers and a provider of on-demand office space in North America. Prior to starting PBC, Laurent held executive and management positions at Sun Microsystems, Litchfield Advisors, and Hewlett-Packard.