Participant Guide: Recognising and Attributing Value
The Value Exchange process happens every 1–3 months. It is a rhythm for looking back on your lived experience and recognising value in all its forms.
The reflection begins with your own narrative — “Here is how I experienced the last 1–3 months, and this is how I recognised value.” From there, it opens outward: to the value you created, the value others created for you, and the value of the process itself.
And it doesn’t stop there — because others also have the chance to recognise value in you, even if you don’t name it yourself.
Why We Recognise Value
- It grounds us. Self-recognition affirms your agency and growth.
- It connects us. Recognising others spreads trust and strengthens networks.
- It reveals systems. Recognising the process shows how meaning emerges from structured reflection.
- It opens reciprocity. Others recognising you provides perspectives you may not see yourself.
- It aligns with people & planet wellbeing. By attributing value to nature, culture, and ideas, we acknowledge interdependence beyond humans alone.
Four Dimensions of Attribution
1. Self-Recognition (Your Own Value)
Start with yourself. Write how you created value during the last 1–3 months.
- What actions did you take?
- What insights or shifts did you generate?
- Example: “I deepened our product roadmap and built healthier habits with intermittent fasting.”
2. Recognising Others (People, Ideas, Planet)
Name those who contributed value to you.
- Start with nouns: Sarah, Ahmad, my colleagues, the garden, air quality.
- Add predicates: what specifically did they bring?
- Go rich if needed: a paragraph describing their impact.
- Example: “Ahmad helped me understand the difference between sales and marketing. Over months, his patience and insight shifted our whole approach.”
3. Recognising the Process (Meta-Attribution)
Reflect on how Value Exchange itself revealed value:
- “This process helped me see that Chris’s feedback wasn’t just about the deck, but about our model of value itself.”
- “The reflection surfaced that nature isn’t just background, it’s core to my wellbeing.”
👉 This prevents us from collapsing all recognition onto facilitators or leaders — and shows that the system, not individuals, is what enables awareness.
4. Others Recognising You
Your narrative isn’t the whole story. Other participants, peers, or community members may see value you didn’t signal yourself.
- They can attribute value back to you: “Rob brought clarity to our economic framing,” or “Your discipline in fasting inspired me.”
- This creates a reciprocal web of recognition, balancing self-awareness with external perspective.
- Over time, this becomes one of the most powerful feedback loops in the system.
- It builds Value as networked infrastructure capable of paying you back through relational trust networks.
Practical Flow for Box 1
When reflecting every 1–3 months:
- Narrative: Write “Here is how I experienced the last 1–3 months.”
- Self-recognition: Note the value you created.
- Recognition of others: Attribute value to people, ideas, nature, or culture.
- Meta-attribution: Recognise what the process itself revealed.
- Receive recognition: Allow others to add attributions back to you — even those you did not signal.
Example
- Narrative: “The last three months have been intense — proposals to MoD and DASA, a holiday in Malta that regenerated me, and big personal shifts in health and DIY.”
- Self-recognition: “I built momentum on fundraising and created space in my life by moving to a 4-day work pattern.”
- Recognition of others: “Ahmad helped me understand email marketing. Sarah supported me in the OMAD shift and embraced our DIY journey.”
- Meta-attribution: “Value Exchange helped me see that these changes weren’t just tactical — they were about reframing how I balance work, health, and purpose.”
- Others recognising me (other collaborators add this once VE narratives complete): “Your reflections on US macroeconomics really helped me connect local action to global trends.”
Final Thought
Attribution is not optional. It is the heartbeat of Value Exchange. Each reflection cycle is not just a diary entry. It’s a maturing of consciousness:
- I see my value.
- I see the value others (and the world) gave me.
- I see the value of the process that revealed this.
- And others see value in me, even where I didn’t name it.
This fourfold attribution turns lived experience into a living network of value, one that grows stronger with every cycle.
If you would like permission to engage with your own Value Exchange journey then you have it, go for it! Get in touch to get started.
