Ferris values choices
I like Rust, a lot:
I like Rust's mascot, Ferris the crab. Ferris puns on Rust, and “Rustacean” (the term for a Rust enthusiast) puns on crustacean.
While scuttling around Ferris, I ran into Ferris's creator's website. On it, Ferris's creator declares:
Company values are useless if they're just generic good things anyone would want. A meaningful value is something whose opposite could be a different company's value. True values are choices.
Almost anyone who's worked at a company can attest to these “generic good things anyone would want” values. For example, if we go through Amazon's page on company values, I count 12 generic values and 4 (italicized) non-generic values:
- Customer Obsession - what company would openly spurn customers?
- Ownership - what company would want workers to disown their work?
- Invent and Simplify
- Are Right, A Lot - what company would want wrong judgements?
- Learn and Be Curious - what company would want to ignore new knowledge?
- Hire and Develop the Best - what company would want to hire and develop the worst?
- Insist on the Highest Standards - what company would openly insist on the lowest standards?
- Think Big - what company would want to think small?
- Bias for Action
- Frugality - what company would want to waste resources?
- Earn Trust - what company would want to breed mistrust?
- Dive Deep
- Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
- Deliver Results - what company would avoid results?
- Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer - what company would strive to be the worst employer?
- Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility - what company would proudly shirk responsibility?
As a heuristic of substance versus optics, consider which of your company's values pass the opposite test demonstrated above.