LinkedIn has just put one of their core values to the test.

The CEO of LinkedIn announced today that instead of dictating a one-size-fits-all policy about returning to the office, they will leave it up to their people to decide.

This no small potatoes. We are talking about 16,000 people! Thousands of people on hundreds or thousands of teams will decide what’s best for them. Would you be nervous making this decision? Does it feel risky?

Well, it is.

And this is exactly why LinkedIn’s decision is consistent with their core values. Their core value I am referring to is this: Take Intelligent Risks. LinkedIn says that their core values are how they make decisions. Here’s how I see this decision resonating with this core value:

– It’s an intelligent risk because the company is full of intelligent people. Most companies have intelligent people. Certainly intelligent people can work with their teams to manage their own working arrangements.

– It’s an intelligent risk because of what they have already been through. LinkedIn, like the rest of us, now has deep experience with remote teams.

– It’s an intelligent risk because they are responding to demands for more flexibility. In part, flexibility is fueling the Grand Reshuffle. People have options to move to companies that are responding to their expectations.

We create core values to help us make decisions. That’s their job. But they can’t do their job if we aren’t willing to put them on the line. If our core values never cost us money, time, or opportunities, then it’s not really a core value.

Part of LinkedIn’s description for that core value reads, “Not every risk works out, but some do.” For those of us rethinking how our firm looks in a post-Covid reality, this is exactly the right approach.