What does value mean to you? Is it a feeling, a price tag, or something more profound?
I’ve often pondered the meaning and measurement of value over time. Interestingly, each time I think about it, I gain new insight on what the word means literally and practically. So, let’s dive in to today’s insights:
What is value?
Value is officially defined as the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. But in the context of business, value is tied to the monetary worth of something. To put it in other words, value is the worth of something compared to the price paid or asked for it.
In simple words, something is valuable if the money I spent on it buys me some form of usefulness. For example:
- Spending $50 on a table lamp allows me to work late without straining my eyes
- Spending $80/month on a gym membership helps me maintain my physical health
- Spending $10/month on Spotify gives me unlimited ad-free access to my favourite tunes
By spending on something valuable, I receive some form of usefulness that improves my life. The beautiful thing about value is that it is different for every individual. This leads me to the next question of what does it mean to create value?
Creating value
Having spent most of my career working in early startups, I’ve frequently heard conversations about creating value. This led to me ask, what does it mean to create value? At present, don’t have an answer that I’m happy with or perhaps maybe there isn’t one? But over the years, I’ve come to realize that value is created in many forms.
- For businesses time and money are two forms of value - minimize the time it takes to do something and maximize the money it makes. Being customer first and building something useful for them is valuable. Though this is underrated but I think stability and profitability are valuable.
- For performers, value is created through the sharpening of their skills and the entertainment they provide to their audiences. A musician values using their instrument to invoke one or many emotions within their audiences.
- A software engineer creates value by building shipping new features and keeping systems operational which impacts the overall value of the software product being built.
- An architect creates value by designing spaces for human interactions that foster a certain emotion by producing floor plans, understanding livelihoods, and analyzing neighbourhoods.
- ChatGPT’s value varies from person to person. I use it as a learning buddy that knows more than me and can do things faster than me. Value for me - I can now learn anything faster.
The more I spend time thinking about value, the more I realize that:
Value is not just about monetary worth or tangible outputs - it's about the positive impact we leave on others and ourselves through our actions, skills, and contributions. Perhaps the most meaningful value we create is when our work resonates with and enriches the lives of others.
What are you doing today to create value - for yourself and the world around you?