Founding Principles

Principles should ideally guide all that we do.  Principles and values guide both what you do and why do you what you do. The absence of principles often results with inconsistency, lack of direction, and loss of productivity. This is especially true and more significant if you are a founder or business leader, and the impact on your organization or team can reverberate further than you might be aware. Effective ways to sort information, decipher emotions, and sustain performance is dependent on creating a principled structure.

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Principles inform how I behave and interact in business and in life. Below are my personal principles and values, which have allowed me to find consistency and direction.

Guiding Principles:

1.     Be wary of emotion:

Emotion inappropriately dictates many of our actions. Often, we find that we can be impulsive, nearsighted, and regretful. To be weary of emotions does not mean that you suppress, disregard, or minimize your emotions. It means that you are willing to interact with strong emotions while not irrationally speaking or acting upon them without intention. At best, emotions are good indicators of what needs to be addressed. At worst, emotions subtly fuel unhelpful cycles of stagnation and inactivity. Let emotions notify you of what needs to be attended to.

2.     Seek value rather than speculation:

Speculation and opinions are all around us. Many of us want the comfort of group think to provide us reassurance in what we do. If you seek value, you will realize value. If you seek speculation and excitement, you will find volatility. Value is experienced and created on a long-term timeline, whereas excitement is based on others’ subjectivity.

3.     Allow change to occur if there is value:

Change, while potentially uncomfortable, is not necessarily a “bad” thing. The change itself may provide worth and value, even if taking a risk is a prerequisite. The more you can seek value, tolerate discomfort, and adopt a willingness to allow for productive changes, the better off you will be. Seek to welcome in alternative opinion and novel thoughts, while actively challenging personal biases. Always be willing to steel-man opposing sides and let ultimate value dictate what you do.

4.     Seek progress rather than perfection (the catch is sometimes progress can give false optics of perfectionism):

Perfectionism will never create effective outcomes. Perfectionists measure success based on how “right” or “correct” something is. Perfectionism does not consider anything beyond complete success to be meaningful. You might notice that perfectionism helps you to achieve certain accomplishments or tasks. It is a paradox of sorts, but your achievements will be short-lived as you are likely unaware of a ripple effect of negative impact to those around you. Success needs to be seen as a byproduct of continual progress rather than the sought-after goal. When you see everything through the lens of perfectionism, anything less than complete success will be your vulnerability. Seek continual progress over perfection. View challenges as growth opportunities. A progress-focused mind will create better outcomes than the perfection-oriented mind.

5.     Think long-term and in most cases be skeptical of anything short-term:

Short-term thinking will bring about short-term results. Long-term thinking will bring about long-term results. Long-term thinking asks, “Does what is happening right now actually matter?” It is not concerned with hiccups or blips of progress. The short-term thinker will measure success on momentary feeling, while the long-term thinking zooms out to the bigger picture.

6.     Always be willing to rethink:

The poison of our mind is rigidity and close-mindedness. To be human is to innovate and create. In many ways it is inhuman to stop thinking (stay human!) To be close-minded is to rob yourself of your capabilities. Willingness to rethink is synonymous with accepting that new thought is unlimited. Rethinking involves a quest of gathering more information if it means to a better outcome. Many of those around you are masqueraded as being open to hear various opinions, but then become quickly defensive when faced with opposing views.

7.     Do not share information with others without first establishing rapport:

Meaningful information ought only to be shared with those who are fully listening and engaged. A deaf ear will surely cause ruptures in the relationship or the potential of a relationship. Another’s response may have solid intentions, but unfortunately fail to consider your needs. This is not to say that you should withhold truths or facts from those around you. It is to say trust and safety is foundational to the sharing of information.

When you find someone who takes time to listen to you and understand your context, share all that you can and never let them go. Finding individuals who can fully listen, refrain from giving uninformed opinions, and show genuine investment in your progress is true gold. You will only find a handful of these people in your life. Assume tact in what you share with everyone else.