On this page
The two-bar model is a way to put core values into practice. Every value gets two standards: an acceptable bar that everyone must meet, and an aspirational bar that shows the value at its best. It works best for leaders whose values are written down but don't yet change how people work day to day.
Most companies have values. Very few have values that change what anyone does on a Tuesday afternoon. Gallup found that only 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree they can apply their company's values to their work every day.
The usual advice is role modeling and reinforcement. Both matter. But both assume people already know what the value asks of them in their own job. Most don't. "Ownership" printed on a wall isn't an instruction. A new engineer, a sales lead and an operations manager will each read it differently, and none of them can tell when they've met it.
Putting values into practice starts with clarity. And clarity needs two bars for every value.
The acceptable bar and the aspirational bar
The acceptable bar is the floor. Below it, the behavior isn't okay. You can't ignore it, and you can't save it for the quarterly review. It needs pushback, right away.
The aspirational bar is the example. It's the value at its best. When you see it, you think: that's what we mean.
Here is how that looks for two common values:
| Value | Acceptable bar (the floor) | Aspirational bar (the example) |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | You close the loop on what you committed to, and you flag it early when you can't. | You pick up a problem nobody owns and see it through to the end. |
| Candor | You raise disagreement in the room, not in the hallway afterward. | You ask for the feedback you least want to hear, and you act on it. |
Both bars describe things you can see someone do. That matters. You can't enforce or reward what nobody can see.
Write the bars for each role
A value means different things in different jobs. If you only write the bars for the whole company, people still have to guess what they mean for them.
| Ownership in... | Acceptable bar | Aspirational bar |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | Every deal in your pipeline has a next step and a date. | You fix the handoff to onboarding so your customers stop falling through it. |
| Engineering | You don't ship what you haven't tested, and you own the bugs you introduce. | You fix the flaky test everyone has been working around for months. |
| Operations | Nothing you manage fails silently. You raise problems before they reach the customer. | You redesign the process that keeps producing the same problem. |
Ask each team lead to write these with their team. Writing them together is half the point. It starts a conversation most teams have never had: what does this word mean for us?
Three zones, three responses
Two bars create three zones. Each zone needs a different response from leaders.
| Zone | What it means | Leader response | What happens if you skip it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the floor | The behavior is not okay | Correct it, every time, for everyone | The real floor becomes whatever you put up with |
| Between the bars | People are living the value | Notice it and say so, often | People decide that meeting the value doesn't matter |
| At or above the aspiration | The value at its best | Celebrate it, share the story, count it in promotions | People do the minimum and stop there |
Below the floor: correct it
This is where most values quietly die. And the hardest test comes from your best performers.
If a top seller can fall below the floor on respect and nothing happens, everyone learns that the real floor is lower than the written one. Patrick Lencioni made this point in Harvard Business Review. Values that people don't live by are worse than having no values at all, because they make people cynical.
There's a cost in money, too. Harvard Business School researchers Dylan Minor and Michael Housman studied more than 50,000 workers. Avoiding one toxic hire saved a company about $12,489. Hiring a top-1% performer added about $5,303. Keeping out the toxic hire was worth more than twice as much. The floor holds for everyone, or it doesn't hold.
Between the bars: reinforce it
This is where most people spend most of their days, and it's the zone most companies ignore.
Companies correct what falls below the floor. They celebrate the stars. The steady, everyday version of the value gets silence. And silence teaches people that meeting the value doesn't matter, so they stop trying.
Reinforcement here doesn't need to be big. It needs to be specific, and it needs to be soon. "You flagged that risk two weeks early. That's exactly what ownership looks like here." One sentence, said the same day, makes it far more likely to happen again. Behavior that gets noticed gets repeated. Behavior that goes unnoticed fades.
At or above the aspiration: celebrate it
This is where promotions happen and where stories get told. These moments show the whole organization what the value can become.
Tell these stories in public, and use names. A story like "Priya noticed three of her customers left in month two, so she rebuilt the onboarding handoff without being asked" teaches more than any values workshop.
Why you need both bars
If you only reward the aspirational, the value starts to feel out of reach. Those moments are rare. When they're the only thing anyone notices, most people decide the value is for someone else.
If you only enforce the acceptable, you get compliance. People learn where the line is and stand right above it. The value turns into a rule, and rules don't inspire anyone.
The floor makes the value safe. The aspiration gives it somewhere to grow. You need both.
How the two-bar model compares to other approaches
Lencioni's well-known framework sorts values into four types: core, aspirational, permission-to-play and accidental. It helps you decide which values belong on your list. The two-bar model picks up from there. Once a value is on the list, what does meeting it look like? And what does living it at its best look like?
| Approach | What it gives you | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|
| Values statement only | A shared vocabulary | No one knows what behavior is expected |
| Lencioni's four value types | A filter for which values to keep | Doesn't say what living each value looks like |
| Behavioral examples per value | Clearer expectations | Mixes the minimum and the ideal, so people can't tell which one is required |
| Two-bar model | A floor to enforce and an example to aim for, per value and per role | Takes real work to write, and only works if leaders respond in all three zones |
That last point matters most. The bars are easy to write and hard to live up to. They only work if leaders respond in all three zones, every week.
The strongest cultures lift both bars
Holding the bars steady is good. The strongest cultures raise them.
Raising them starts in the top zone. When someone lives a value at its best and gets recognized for it in public, others try it too. Once a few people have done it, it stops looking heroic and starts looking normal.
What was aspirational last year becomes expected this year. So the floor rises, and leaders write a new aspiration above it. Do this once a year, and your values get stronger over time instead of fading into a poster.
How to set your two bars: a 30-day start
- Pick one value. Start with the one that is most often broken or most often ignored.
- Write the bars with each team. One acceptable behavior and one aspirational behavior per role. Write each one as something you could see someone do.
- Agree on what happens below the floor. Decide in advance, so the response is the same no matter who it is.
- Make noticing a habit. Each manager names at least one between-the-bars moment a week, out loud, with specifics.
- Collect aspirational stories. Share one a month in a team meeting or all-hands, with names.
- Review after 30 days. Find the bar that was hardest to spot, rewrite it, then move on to the next value.
Use the two-bar model if your values are written down but people can't say what they mean for their role. Start with Lencioni's filter if you have more than six values, or suspect some aren't true of your company today. Fix the floor first if a known high performer often falls below it. Until you do, people won't believe anything else you say about values.
A quick self-check for leadership teams
Rate each statement from 1 to 5 as a team:
- We can describe the acceptable bar for each of our values in one sentence.
- We push back the same day when someone falls below the floor, including our top performers.
- We notice and name everyday examples of our values at least weekly.
- Our promotions visibly reward people who reach the aspirational bar.
- Something that was aspirational for us a year ago is now expected.
Start with any statement you score 3 or lower.
Where daily practice comes in
The middle zone has one practical problem: annual reviews can't see it. A review in December can't reinforce something someone did in March. Reinforcement has to happen close to the moment, or it doesn't happen at all.
This is the gap Happily.ai is built for. Teams recognize each other every day, and each recognition is tied to a company value. So the everyday moments in the middle zone get named instead of lost. Leaders can see which values people are living, team by team. They can also see where a floor is starting to slip, months before it shows up in turnover. And because 97% of people use it daily (the industry average is about 25%), the picture covers the whole company, not only its loudest voices.
One honest limit: software can't write your bars or hold the floor for you. Those are leadership decisions. What a daily tool can do is make the middle zone visible, so noticing it becomes a habit.
For a deeper look at designing recognition around values, see our values-based recognition program guide. If you're still deciding which values to keep, start with Make Your Values Mean Something and You've Designed Your Core Values. Now What?
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you put company values into practice?
Give each value two standards you can see in action: an acceptable bar everyone must meet, and an aspirational bar that shows the value at its best. Then respond to each zone differently. Correct what falls below the floor. Reinforce what sits between the bars. Celebrate what reaches the aspiration.
What is the difference between an acceptable bar and an aspirational bar?
The acceptable bar is the minimum. Falling below it gets corrected right away. The aspirational bar is the value at its best, the example you want others to copy. It earns public recognition and counts in promotions.
Should high performers be held to the same values floor?
Yes. If a top performer can fall below the floor without consequence, everyone learns the real floor is lower than the written one. Harvard Business School research found that avoiding one toxic worker is worth more than twice what a top-1% performer adds.
How often should you raise the bars?
Review them once a year. When aspirational behavior has become common, move it into the acceptable bar and write a new aspiration above it. Raise the floor too often and it feels like a moving target. Never raise it and the value goes stale.
Is the two-bar model worth it for a 50-person company?
Yes, and it's easier to start at 50 people than at 500. Each team can write its bars in a single meeting, and the founder's own responses set the tone fast. It matters even more as you grow, because new hires can no longer learn the values by watching the founder.
Ready to see your values in daily practice? Book a demo to see how teams recognize value-aligned behavior every day, and how leaders spot where a floor is slipping before it turns into turnover.
Sources:
- It's Time for a Core Values Audit - Nate Dvorak and Niraj Patel, Gallup (2018)
- Few Workers Apply Their Company's Values to Their Jobs - Gallup Business Journal
- Make Your Values Mean Something - Patrick Lencioni, Harvard Business Review (2002)
- Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers - Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (2015)
