Jeff DeGraff Speaking at General Electric: Part 3

What is Competing Values?


Competing Values is about understanding how to appreciate conflicting values and integrate them successfully so that the organization is open to collaboration and growth. Jeff DeGraff, the Dean of Innovation, has advocated ambidextrous leadership for more than twenty years through his teaching, consulting, and his three books about the Competing Values Framework (CVF). The goal is that leaders should become adroit at two conflicting values (DeGraff identifies a total of four competing values). We train leaders so that they develop the ability to oversee teams that work towards opposite goals, integrating them when the timing is right, so that each value can be developed successfully. The result is companies that are creative, while meeting high quality control standards, and that are open and collaborative, but also maintain their competitive edge.