When evaluating success, if our focus shifts from rules based compliance and competition to a landscape of values based decisions and collaboration, how can we quantify that success?
How can we assess the effectiveness of service models that prioritise thriving over mere expansion, cooperation over competition, and the experience of values over rule-bound compliance?
Values-Based Practice underscores the importance of managing intricate and sometimes opposing values, especially in healthcare scenarios. This approach emphasises the significance of aligning with our core values, fostering individual and organisational collaborations, navigating the uncertainties of risk through the use of values, and cultivating a compassionate and human-centric workspace.
Though concepts like culture audits, trauma-aware strategies, and psychological safety are prevalent, these often don’t mirror real-world settings. Here’s where language could potentially serve as an indicator of cultural alignment and a care system anchored in values.
Despite extensive research, there isn’t a concrete method or tool that measures or categorises language in the evaluation of board reports, patient safety, or educational initiatives. Yet, the advent of artificial intelligence opens the door to scrutinising language based on content, discerning the presence of values, humanistic terms, technical jargon, and gauging language for emotions, biases, or cultural nuances.
Language, as suggested by studies in culture and psychology, is instrumental in cultural dynamics. It is the primary vehicle through which we decipher the thoughts of others and forge a collective understanding of the world. Sociolinguistics delves into the nexus between language and its context, investigating the variability of language use across social settings, and how it mirrors and amplifies societal norms and values. This sentiment is echoed by disciplines like marketing that delve into how language, along with broader cues, can influence consumer behaviour.
Research from diverse fields like linguistics, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and communication converge on the idea that language is not just a reflection but also an enforcer of cultural norms, values, and beliefs. It appears to be an essential benchmark for success in areas like personalised healthcare, value-driven leadership, and broad systemic transformation.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00220221221114046
In today’s era, an overtly medical and mechanistic approach to care prevails, paralleled by an industrial framework of service provision. This is evident in the terminology we use: “Human Resources”, “Assets”, “Efficiency”, “Systems Analysis”. However, a paradigm shift is needed—one that emphasises relationships, encourages recipriocity, and nurtures a sense of community and belonging.
As our dialogues progress and grow richer, so should our language. It’s high time we moved beyond the mechanistic terminology and embrace words that truly resonate with the vibrancy and hope innate to humanity and utilise technology to measure our success.
For your information, according to Chat GPT this blog contains 21 words reflecting values and humanity, 24 words reflecting business and technical language.
Taking a thought for a walk 