Let’s be honest. Most organisational values don’t work.

Let’s be honest. Most organisational values don’t work.

They’re often written in boardrooms, crafted from generic words, and disconnected from how people actually feel at work. Too often, values are cognitive and conceptual. Designed from the head, not the heart. And when that happens, they fail to move people. They become wallpaper.

At R&E, we’ve always believed that emotions sit at the heart of performance, connection, and culture. So we decided to flip the traditional model on its head.

Instead of starting with values and hoping people behave in ways that bring them to life, we begin with how we want people to feel.

That’s where the Emotional Values Design method was born.

Why Emotions First? 

We created this method because we saw a missing link: the emotional thread that connects employee experience and stakeholder experience. If you want people to feel something when they engage with your organisation, your people have to feel it first.

Inspired by leaders like Mel Howe at BurgerFuel, we saw what could happen when emotions are deliberately designed into both team culture and customer experience, and how those two things aren’t separate at all. They’re deeply intertwined.

Here’s How the Method Works 

This isn’t a linear process, and you don’t have to follow every step. But the framework invites you to build your values in a way that actually resonates with people. By grounding them in emotional experience first.

1. Start with Emotional Culture 

   What do you want your people to feel, and not feel, at work?

2. Map Stakeholder Emotions 

   What do you want your customers or stakeholders to feel, and not feel, when they interact with you?

3. Merge and Distil 

   Combine those emotional goals to form a set of shared emotional values. These should guide everything you create and deliver.

4. Translate into Observable Actions 

   What behaviours and actions will help foster those emotions within your people and the people you serve? What would your leaders do that would stop your people from feeling those emotions? How would you know people are feeling those emotions? 

5. Embed Through Rituals 

   What small, repeatable moments (daily, weekly, monthly) can reinforce these emotions and make them part of the everyday experience for your team and customers/stakeholders?

6. Focus on Touchpoints 

   Design your emotional values into the moments that matter. Both internally and externally.

Our Emotion Values at R&E 

We’ve walked this path ourselves. After going through this process, we landed on six core emotional values that guide everything we do:

• Free & Proud

• Generous & Surprised

• Inspired & Uncomfortable

When our people and community feel these things, we know we’re on the right track. Every decision we make, we ask ourselves, "Will people feel this if we do that...?"

Part of a Bigger Story: A New Way Forward 

This part of the Emotional Stakeholder Engagement Course introduces a unique methodology we’ve developed called Emotion-Led Values Design. A new way to reimagine organisational values through the lens of emotion. It’s a tool you can only run with The Emotional Culture Deck, and it’s already been used by startups and large companies alike to embed emotional culture into the fabric of how they operate.

Six years on from launching our original ECD Masterclass, this feels like a natural extension of that founding work. One of the very first problems I wanted to solve with The ECD was how values were being created and talked about inside organisations. I was cynical about the corporate approach to values, and frustrated by how lifeless and disconnected it had become.

This course takes that original frustration and offers a new way forward.

It shows how values can be felt, not just written.

Designed with people, not just for them. 

The methodology has been shaped by our work with early-stage founders here in New Zealand, as well as the incredible example of Mel Howe and her team at BurgerFuel, who used this approach to connect values, internal culture, and customer experience in a deeply human and memorable way.

Here’s what some of our beta testers said about this part of the course:

“INSPIRED by this section! Love the holistic approach so that the work becomes embedded in the culture and is not just a ‘fun and forget’ workshop.” – Sue Schulte

“This really helped me understand how all these pieces fit together… The emotional values design and the link to observable actions and rituals really landed.” – Beks Henderson

“I loved this whole section — really insightful and powerful. Fascinating how it played out in the real-world example too.” – Paul Bulos

“I really like how you’re using your own business as a practical example — it brings it to life and shows that you practise what you preach.” – Suzanne Cross

“This module was amazing! I loved so much about it… It magnifies everything that comes from it in terms of sustainability and impact — for leaders, employees, and customers.” – Kassie Gada

This section alone could change the way you approach values, culture, and experience design.

Come explore how emotions can become the glue between your internal and external worlds.

A Method That Moves People 

Emotional Values Design is not about what looks good on the wall. It’s about what’s felt in the room. It invites teams to co-create a culture that feels real, human, and energising, and to shape experiences that connect more deeply with the people they serve.

If traditional values feel broken, this method offers a new way forward.

One built on feeling first.

Curious to Explore More? 

The Emotional Values Design method is just one part of our Emotional Stakeholder Engagement Course. A powerful, practical course for leaders and teams who want to design more human experiences.

👉 Explore the course here and join the next cohort