Twilio is a company that impresses me.<p>These value statement things, though, don't; in fact, I associate them with the opposite kinds of companies as Twilio.<p>I'm prepared to learn that this is irrational. Has anyone here worked at a company where the team was improved by a formal statement of values?<p>I always thought, if we were going to have a list of values, it'd be constrained to values that were head-scratching tradeoffs. "Time to market > quality", or things like that. Which of these values express competition between ideals? What company <i>wouldn't</i> have a "no shenanigans" value? I might be more fascinated by one that had (and justified) a "shenanigans always!" value.
Having worked at Twilio, I think these mean a lot more to people on the inside than they do to people on the outside. They're not something the company is trying to be, they document the way the company really is and by writing them down its like saying: hey we made it this way on purpose, let's not forget. For me, these have a lot of personal meaning that couldn't ever fit on the page.
Anyone else remember that 37signals started out with a homepage a bit like this back in the late 90s? Actually, just found they still keep an archive of it: <a href="http://37signals.com/manifesto" rel="nofollow">http://37signals.com/manifesto</a>
I truly do not understand the value of "Corporate Core Value" statements. (OK, #5, "No Shenanigans", those are words to live by.)<p>Personal, Human core values. The things that keep us in line, help us to foster healthy relationships, and build civilizations are important.<p>But what are corporate "core values"?<p>I'm always a little unnerved when a company (spontaneously, or even worse, with the guidance of a "guru") feels the need to embrace this particular brand of corporate banality.<p>It's advertisement wrapped in altruism, and that's in vogue right now. While I'm sure it's well-intentioned, and I don't mean this as an indictment, it feels cynical.<p>Whatever happened to Mission Statements?<p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/pvEkp.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/pvEkp.jpg</a>