Inner vs Outer Scorecard Values Filter
Rank your real values, then test whether a decision optimizes for them instead of for status.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 92%
A coaching exercise that turns a fuzzy question ('what are my values?') into a concrete stack-rank, then uses that ranking as a decision lens. You select resonant words from a list, group and rank them into three to five value statements, then apply them to a real decision to see whether the obvious, status-driven choice actually serves what matters to you.
Origin
The values exercise is Ada Chen Rekhi's standard coaching homework, which she first took over a decade ago. She frames it through Warren Buffett's 'inner scorecard vs outer scorecard' distinction — inner being what actually matters to you (kindness, adventure, how you spent your day), outer being how the world keeps score (status, wealth, titles, top-10 lists).
Core principles
- 01Your true values often don't match your public LinkedIn-feed persona or your parents' expectations
- 02The obvious 'next step' (bigger title, book, executive role) is exactly what a values lens should ground you against
- 03The external scorecard of status can be in direct opposition to your inner scorecard of meaning
- 04Values are yours and should change over time — re-rank them as life changes
- 05An 'ego monster' (the pull toward the impressive choice) can be named and dissociated from rather than obeyed
How to run it
- 1
Select resonant words from a values list
Go down a multiple-choice list of candidate value words (10-15 minutes) and pick every word that resonates. Making it multiple-choice removes the paralysis of inventing values from a blank page.
Pro tip The list format is the unlock — 'here's all the options across tons of categories, just keep picking' beats staring at a blank page thinking about abstract concepts.
- 2
Group and stack-rank into 3-5 value statements
Filter the selected words into groups, then into a stack-ranked list, producing three to five sentences describing what matters most to you right now in personal and professional life.
Pro tip Force yourself to stack-rank — the ordering is what makes it useful as a tradeoff tool later.
Watch out Landing on too many values (six-plus) is a signal you haven't filtered hard enough.
- 3
Apply the values to a live decision and 'play the movie forward'
Take a real decision or your current trajectory, draw a straight line forward, and ask how well that path optimizes for your top values. Name the pressures (status, others' expectations) pulling you the other way.
Pro tip Ask concrete inner-scorecard questions: 'Did you have an adventure today? Were you kind? Did you win at the cost of kindness?'
Watch out An option can be 'objectively better' on the external scorecard yet leave you less happy — don't let that framing override your top values.
- 4
Revisit and update the values over time
Treat the list as living. Applying it to real decisions surfaces missing values (Ada's guest realized 'simplify' belonged on his list); add and re-rank them as your situation changes.
In the wild
Ada faced a high-profile, exciting opportunity that involved demanding travel and grueling hours in a space she wasn't excited about but that would look amazing on her resume. A friend had her run the values exercise against the job.
→ She realized her top three values would categorically fail under that role because she'd be gone all the time chasing glory she didn't care about, so she stayed on her existing path, which could fulfill those values.
Applying his values, the host saw that writing a book felt like the 'obvious smart next step' but, like the course he'd already paused, didn't actually bring him joy. Decomposing his value of 'adventure' revealed a book stops being an adventure once you're on the treadmill of execution.
→ He used values as a lens to distinguish 'a thing that feels smart' from 'a thing I actually want,' reinforcing his choice to take on less.
Common mistakes
Optimizing for the resume / outer scorecard
Chasing logos, titles, and 'one more impressive role' can lead to waking up late-career feeling trapped in a job you dread — your life is the years you spend, not the resume you build.
Obeying the 'ego monster'
The internal voice demanding you take the impressive option isn't a reliable guide to happiness; naming it as the ego monster lets you treat it as input rather than a command.
Is it for you?
Best for
Professionals at a career crossroads who feel pulled between an obviously prestigious option and a quieter path, and want a concrete way to decide by what actually matters to them.
Not ideal for
Purely tactical or reversible decisions where deep values reflection is overkill, or people who already have high clarity on their priorities.
From the transcript
“it's sort of like this internal scorecard of what really matters to you in your decision-making process as opposed to the external scorecard of status,…”
“if I draw a straight line from where I am right now, and just sort of extend it forward and play the rest of the…”
“I use um something that Warren Buffett has talked about which is inner scorecard versus outer scorecard”
“my top three values, like the things that I cared about, this job would categorically just fail at”
“it's a terrible outcome to wake up one day and be sort of late career, and feel trapped”
From the episode
How to make better decisions and build a joyful career
Ada Chen Rekhi (Notejoy, LinkedIn, SurveyMonkey)