Your Core Values List Is Too Long. Cut It in Half.

I walked into a team meeting at my MSP one Tuesday morning and asked someone to name our core values.

She tried. She got three right. She paused. She squinted at the wall behind me where the values were printed in a frame and tried to remember the rest. She got one more. Then she trailed off.

I stood there pretending it was fine while my stomach dropped.

She was one of our best people. Three years with the company. Trusted by clients. Respected by the team. If she couldn't recite our values from memory, the values weren't the foundation of the business. They were decoration we had hung on the wall and convinced ourselves was operational.

I went home that night and tested myself. I sat at my kitchen table and tried to write all seven of our values from memory. I got four. I had to look up the rest. I had spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours building those values, communicating them, framing them, putting them on the website. And I couldn't recite them on demand.

That was the day I started cutting.

WHY YOUR LIST IS PROBABLY TOO LONG

Look at your current values list right now. If you have six or more, you almost certainly have too many. If you have eight, the list is decorative. If you have ten, you haven't made any decisions about what your business actually stands for.

The reason owners keep their values lists long is the same reason most things in business stay alive longer than they should. Cutting feels like losing something. Adding feels like gaining something. Most owners build their list by adding over time and never go back to test whether each value still earns its place.

The long list also feels safe. It feels comprehensive. It feels like it covers everything important about who you are and what you stand for. It feels like it would be unfair to the values you would have to cut if you trimmed it.

Every one of those feelings produces the opposite of what you want.

A comprehensive list is unusable. Nobody can remember it, which means nobody can act on it, which means it doesn't function as a decision-making framework. The comprehensiveness that feels like quality control is the thing that prevents the values from being used.

A list that feels too short, that feels like it leaves out important things, is the one that actually works. The team can carry it in their heads. Leadership can apply it under pressure. The values that survived the cut have been forced to do real work, and the ones removed were doing decoration.

This isn't an abstract principle. It plays out the same way in every business that has tried both versions. Long lists get ignored. Short lists get used. The math is consistent across companies, industries, and team sizes.

THE BIGGER PROBLEM I DID NOT SEE COMING

The recital problem was visible immediately. The deeper problem took me longer to figure out. When values came up in a real decision, the long list gave me no clear guide.

Should we fire this tech who has been missing his SLA targets for three months despite multiple conversations? My long list of values applied in some way to most decisions. Several of them spoke to the situation. Several of them could be used to argue either direction. I could justify firing him against three of our values. I could also justify keeping him against two others.

The values weren't helping me make the decision. They were giving me vocabulary to rationalize whatever decision I had already made.

That is the hidden cost of a long values list nobody talks about. Owners think they're being thorough by listing everything that matters. What they're actually doing is creating a framework so broad that almost any choice can be defended against some subset of it. The list stops being a tool. It becomes camouflage for gut decisions wearing a values costume.

The short list doesn't let you do that. When you have three values, every value has to do real work. Every value is either clearly relevant to the decision or clearly not. The ambiguity disappears. The decision either honors the value or violates it. There is nowhere to hide.

That clarity is what owners are actually looking for when they say they want their values to drive decisions. They can't get it from a long list. They can only get it from a short one.

THE TEST EVERY VALUE HAS TO PASS

Use this test on your current list. Every value has to pass all three questions or it doesn't belong.

Question one. Would you fire someone over it? If a tech repeatedly and deliberately violated this value after you addressed it directly, would you actually let them go? If the answer is no, it isn't a value. It's a preference. Preferences matter. They belong somewhere else in your business, just not on the values list. The values list exists to define what is non-negotiable.

Question two. Can every person on your team recite it without prompting? Walk through your building this week and ask. If more than 30 percent of your team can't answer, the value isn't operational. Either the value is wrong, the list is too long for the team to hold, or the value has not been reinforced enough to stick. A value nobody can recite isn't functioning as a value.

Question three. Could you give an example of it being lived and an example of it being violated in your business in the last 90 days? If you can't point to specific moments where this value showed up in real work, the value is theoretical. Theoretical values don't produce culture. They produce posters.

A value that passes all three questions earns its place on the list. A value that fails any one of them is doing decoration, not work.

Run your list through this test honestly and see what happens. Most owners discover that two or three of their current values fail at least one question. Sometimes more. The exercise alone reveals which values have been doing real work and which ones have been riding along on the list for years without anyone testing whether they should still be there.

THE 90-MINUTE EXERCISE

Block 90 minutes. Get the current list in front of you. Get coffee. Close the door.

Run every value through the three questions. The values that pass all three move to the keeper list. The ones that fail any one move to the discussion list.

Now look at the keeper list. If you have more than five values that pass, run a second cut. Ask which values are most distinctive. Which ones, if removed, would change who you fundamentally are as a business?

The values that are most distinctive stay. The values that are important but could be assumed of any reasonable business move to the discussion list. Honesty, respect, hard work, integrity. Those aren't bad values. They are baseline professional standards every reasonable business should hold. They aren't what makes your business distinctive. They aren't your core values. They are the floor.

Look at the discussion list now. Two paths exist for these values.

Some of them are operating principles. Standards you hold the team to but wouldn't fire someone over for a single violation. These define how the work gets done day to day. They go in your field guide's people section as expected behaviors and habits.

Some of them are baseline expectations. Things like showing up on time and communicating respectfully. These aren't values either. They are professional behaviors that belong in your employee handbook or role expectations document.

None of them are being thrown away. Every one of them has a home in the field guide somewhere. They just don't belong on the core values list because the core values list has a specific job. It defines what's non-negotiable about who you are. Everything else lives somewhere else.

The keeper list at the end of this exercise should have three to five values. If you end up with six, ask whether any two are saying essentially the same thing. At least two are. Combine them or pick the sharper one.

WHAT CHANGED WHEN I CUT TO THREE

My MSP went from seven values to four to three over the course of a year. The shorter the list got, the more the values mattered.

By the time we had three, every person in the building could recite them on demand. Without looking. Without pausing. Without trying to remember which ones were on the list. They could also give you examples of what each value looked like in action and what it looked like when violated. They could point to specific moments where they had used a value to make a decision or seen someone else use it.

That was what I had been trying to build for years with the longer list. The cut was what got me there.

Hiring changed. We interviewed against three values instead of seven, which meant our interview questions could be sharper and our screening could be more rigorous. We were no longer trying to evaluate candidates against a list so long that nobody could remember which question was screening for which value.

Performance reviews changed. We could anchor every conversation against three specific things. The reviews became shorter, sharper, and more useful because the values were doing real work in them.

Difficult decisions changed. When we had to make a hard call about a person, a client, or a strategic direction, we ran it against three values that were clear and specific. The decision either honored them or violated them. The ambiguity that used to give me cover for gut decisions disappeared. The decisions got better.

The team changed too. They weren't trying to remember the values anymore. They had internalized them. They used them in meetings. They referenced them when explaining decisions to each other. They held each other accountable to them without me being in the room.

That is what a values list is supposed to do. That's what mine hadn't been doing for years because it had been too long to function.

WHERE THIS LIVES IN YOUR FIELD GUIDE

Your field guide's foundation section is where this gets locked in correctly.

The values section documents three to five values. Each one gets a paragraph defining what it means in concrete terms specific to your business. Each one gets two behavioral examples. One of what living the value looks like in a real work scenario. One of what violating it looks like. Each one gets the interview question that screens for it before you hire.

The operating principles section documents the standards that didn't make the values cut but still matter to how the work gets done. Same format. What the principle looks like in practice. How it shows up in daily work. What good behavior against the principle looks like.

The expectations section documents the baseline professional behaviors expected of everyone. This is the cleanest, most direct section. Just the standards. No values language attached. Just the floor.

When all three sections exist separately and clearly, three things happen.

The values list becomes operational because it is short enough to be used. Every person can recite it. Every person can recognize it in action. Every person can apply it to a decision.

The principles become clearer because they're no longer competing with values for attention. They get the specific job of defining how the work gets done day to day, which is what they're actually for.

The expectations become enforceable because they are written as expectations rather than aspirations. Show up on time. Communicate clearly. Document tickets accurately. These aren't values. They are standards. Writing them as standards makes them easier to hold the team to.

This is the structure that produces a culture that runs without you in every conversation. Not a long list of values nobody can remember. A short list of values everyone can recite, paired with documented principles and standards that handle the rest.

The values list that feels too short is the one that actually works.

The list that feels comprehensive feels good to write. It looks good on the website. It seems thorough in a sales conversation. And it does nothing for the business because nobody can carry it in their heads or use it in real decisions.

Cut your list this week. Run the three-question test. Move the values that don't survive to operating principles or baseline expectations where they belong. Document the values that survive with concrete behavioral examples and interview questions that screen for them.

Then test it. Walk through your building in two weeks and ask anyone you see to recite the values. If they can, the list is operational. If they can't, the list is still too long.

Keep cutting until everyone can recite them.

That is what core values are supposed to do. That is what most MSPs have never had because their list has always been too long to function.

Start at builttorunmsp.com

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many core values should an MSP have?

Three to five. Any fewer and you probably haven't done the work to identify what truly defines your business. Any more and the list becomes unusable because the team can't remember it, leadership can't apply it under pressure, and the values stop functioning as a decision-making framework. The test is whether every person on your team can recite the list without prompting. If they can't, the list is too long. Cut it until they can. The discomfort of having fewer values is the sign the exercise worked.

What is the difference between core values and operating principles?

Core values are non-negotiable. They define hiring, firing, and promotion decisions. You would actually let someone go for repeatedly violating one. Operating principles are standards you hold the team to but wouldn't fire someone over for a single violation. They define how the work gets done day to day. Both belong in your field guide but in separate sections. Values go in the foundation section with behavioral examples and interview questions. Principles go in the people section as expected behaviors and habits. The distinction matters because mixing them together makes the values list too long and the principles less enforceable.

How do you test whether a core value is real?

Run it through three questions. Would you actually fire someone for repeatedly and deliberately violating it after you addressed it directly. Can every person on your team recite the value without prompting. Could you give an example of it being lived and an example of it being violated in your business in the last 90 days. A value that passes all three questions earns its place on the list. A value that fails any one is doing decoration, not work. Run your current list through this test and you'll likely find that some values you considered foundational are actually preferences, baseline standards, or aspirations rather than real values.

What should you do with values that get cut from the list?

Sort them into the right place in your field guide. Some belong as operating principles in the people section. Standards like clear communication, accountability for outcomes, and customer focus often belong here rather than on the core values list. Some belong as baseline expectations in the employee handbook or role expectations document. Standards like punctuality, professional behavior, and ticket documentation belong here. None of them are being thrown away. They are being sorted into the correct part of the field guide so each one can do its job. The core values list has a specific function. Everything else has a different function. Mixing them together makes none of them work as well as they should.

Why do values lists with six or more values fail to drive culture?

Two reasons. First, the team can't remember a long list, which means they can't apply it to decisions in the moment. A value nobody can recite can't guide behavior. Second, a long list gives leadership a framework so broad that almost any decision can be justified against some subset of it. The values stop being a decision-making tool and become vocabulary for rationalizing decisions that were already made on instinct. Both failures produce the same outcome. The values exist on paper but don't drive culture. A short list of three to five values, by contrast, forces every value to do real work and makes the decision criteria clear enough that ambiguity disappears.