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For our CEO and Founder Dan Wilson, Moxe’s core values of integrity, transparency, persistence and collaboration were part of the company from the start, even if they weren’t explicit.
Defining Moxe’s values was an iterative process and one Wilson says he wishes he would have started sooner.
“When Moxe was brand new, it was one foot in front of the other. As we started to grow, we realized we needed to codify our values and give our team a roadmap as to how we were going to do things,” Wilson says.
“I live my life trying to always adhere to the values of integrity and persistence,” Wilson says.
“Without integrity, you have nothing. Without persistence, we would never solve the monumental task we set out to solve: making healthcare more affordable,” he says.
Moxe’s Chief People Officer Deanna Swanson says that values not only provide a shared framework of expectations, but also allow us to share feedback with our colleagues in a way that’s about the work. “In an environment that’s constantly changing, core values are an anchor,” Swanson says.
She sees integrity as a foundational value and one that’s key to a company’s success. “Not only does the leadership team expect integrity, but everyone on the Moxe team expects it of themselves. It’s imperative,” she says.
Chief Administrative Officer Mike Arce, who helped define Moxe’s values, says the value of persistence was and continues to be key to what makes Moxe, Moxe. (The adjective from which the company’s name was derived, moxie, has “determination” as one of its definitions, after all.)
“We’ve always approached our work (at Moxe) with a hunger to outsmart the problem. If we can’t outsmart the problem, our attitude is that we’ll outwork it. That’s persistence,” Arce says.
While integrity and persistence are two of Wilson’s most closely held personal values that Moxe shares, he agrees that transparency and collaboration are just as important to Moxe’s mission.
“We need to authentically live out the value of transparency internally if we have a shot at shining a light on what’s possible between payers and providers with increased transparency,” Wilson says.
While they say it’s hard to pick just one, Arce and Swanson agree that collaboration is the value they most see on their teams on a day-to-day basis.
“Our team is exceptionally helpful,” Arce says. “When someone encounters a problem, everyone jumps in to help. People have an attitude of, ‘You are not going to stand there alone and fight this fire,’ when it comes to their teammates,” he says.
Arce says recently, an engineering team leader had to put out a tough message that their team was falling behind on some deliverables.
“Our whole team got behind the team that was struggling. Everyone was asking what they could do to help to relieve some of the pressure and achieve the best outcome for the customer,” Arce says. “I see this kind of collaboration every day.”
For Swanson, collaboration is about putting ego aside to get to the best outcome. “We have a lot of brilliant people on our team who have strong opinions. Collaboration requires a certain level of humility,” she says.
“I like to remind people that collaboration is not just about everyone getting along all the time,” Arce says. “It’s about working through tough things to build the best team.”
Values: living and breathing
Today, thinking back to when Moxe’s values were first scribbled on a piece of paper, Wilson says he hopes Moxe’s values are apparent to Moxe’s team, our customers, and everyone we encounter in the work we do.
“If your values aren’t apparent in the way you treat your teammates and your customers, they don’t mean much. I’ve had some hard conversations with customers. But, I’ve never heard a negative comment about the character of our team. I’m proud of how our team lives our values,” Wilson says.
Stay tuned as we roll out a series of blogs in the coming months that highlight each of our values and how they show up in the work that we do.
Ready for more on Moxe?
Check out what our customers had to say about us in this Emerging Solutions Spotlight Report from KLAS Research.
