Since founding the company, I've had several opportunities to think and talk about what's often called an organization's "vision, mission, and values." But I've never quite landed on language that feels right. More than that — I have a persistent feeling that pinning these things down too precisely right now would cause me to lose "components that are important but not yet articulable." It feels premature.

The statements that actually work are the ones extracted from the common threads across current team members. A company is shaped and colored by its people, for better or worse. Preparing some grand, standalone statement that just circulates on its own is not what I'm after.

With that intent, our company's recruiting page (as of August 2018) presents "common threads we recognize as important to us" in plain, honest language. It's not a crisp formal statement, but I think the content clearly communicates what we value right now.

That said, this list of short phrases alone is too brief to communicate two things:

  • WHY: why we came to value these elements
  • WHAT: what we're trying to gain by holding them

It's a case of "too long for a belt, too short for a strap" — useful but incomplete.

An idea for aligning on important values

What came to mind was: "make favorite books the operating principles." Joining a company and genuinely understanding the team through working together takes time. Using both the actual work and books as parallel channels to slowly communicate the operating principles felt like a good idea.

The 3 books that guide 10X

The three books I've selected and recommend within the company, along with a summary of what I want to convey through each:

An Issue-Driven Approach (Issue Driven)

Put the most effort into finding the right problem. Evaluating problems and setting priorities is where everything begins.

Jobs to Be Done (Competing Against Luck)

Identify and deeply understand the "job people are trying to get done," and stay focused on building products that help get that job done. Don't drift from the job.

An Invitation to Engineering Organizations (Engineering Organization Theory)

Understand the distinctive nature of building products and organizations with engineering, and cultivate relationships where we can trust each other's judgment. Minimize information asymmetry. Build mentor relationships.

The most-used phrase

Separately from the above operating principles, "Is that actually 10x?" has become a phrase that flies around often — at least between me and Ishikawa — whenever we're about to take some action. It's turned out to be a good company name.

When all is said and done, the most important value we hold is embedded in the name of the company itself.