5. Principles?
• Principles are the fundamental truths that form the basis for
beliefs and the foundation for behavior — they are universal and
permanent, transcending culture and time
• By contrast, values are expressions of relative importance of
desirable attributes — they are by nature more malleable and
may change over time or may be naturally in conflict
• e.g., honesty and integrity are principles; industriousness and
resilience are values
• Principles and values are both important!
6. Must we elucidate principles?
• Elucidating principles can feel redundant — if they are universal
truths, why make them explicit?
• And if we make explicit principles that human behavior will
occasionally contravene, are we institutionalizing hypocrisy?
• This is exactly why we must make them explicit: making clear
our principles allows our future selves to be guided by (in the
words of Abraham Lincoln) the “better angels of our nature”
10. Organizational principles?
• Principles are just as important in the small as they are in the
large — and it behooves an organization as much as a nation to
elucidate its principles
• Organizations reasonably conflate principles and values and
integrate them into their mission — but they all combine to
express the deeper purpose of the endeavor
• Purpose is one of the factors in Daniel Pink’s triad of intrinsic
motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose
11. Organizational principles, ca. 1990
• e.g., as part of managing for values, Levi Strauss & Co.
developed their “aspirations statement”:
12. Organizational principles, ca. 1990
— Robert Haas, CEO Levi Strauss & Co. in an
interview with Harvard Business Review, September 1990
13. Organizational principles, ca. 1990
— Robert Haas, CEO Levi Strauss & Co. in an
interview with Harvard Business Review, September 1990
14. Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley…
• Sun’s aspirations were more distilled: “Kick butt and have fun”
• This was heavily loaded: “kick butt” carried the implication of a
fair fight (viz. Sun’s championing of open systems in the 1980s)
• The culture of Sun was more fully expressed by Scott McNealy,
albeit as an epitaph:
Kicked butt, had fun, didn’t cheat, loved our customers,
changed computing forever.
• Scott elaborated upon this in his farewell e-mail to Sun
employees…
20. The Web 2.0 generation
• For the companies of the Web 2.0 generation, the ethos shifted
• Google: “Don’t be evil”
• Facebook: “Move fast and break things”
• Which brings us to Amazon’s Leadership Principles…
26. Amazon’s Leadership Principles
• With essentially no exceptions, these aren’t principles
• And in as much as these are to be principles, there are some
important ones missing: integrity, honesty, decency!
• Some of them aren’t even values!
• They contradict one another sufficiently that they can be used to
justify essentially any action
• The danger isn’t so much in these “principles” themselves
(many of them represent laudable traits), but rather in how they
mistakenly inspire the next generation…
29. The next generation, courtesy James Mickens
Source: James Mickens, “It was never going to work, so let’s have some tea” (LISA 2015)
30. Me want leadership principles!
• The peril of the me-want-services/software-is-eating-the-world
generation is that software companies are now coming into
contact with the much broader economy
• These software companies see themselves as disruptors — and
they often rely on skirting (or outright violating) regulation or
other norms
• These companies are tautologically new; they lack any inherited
wisdom or humility — and they view that as a strength
• When they mimic Amazon by codifying their own principles and
values, the results are predictably calamitous…
31. Uber’s 14 Cultural Values
• Meritocracy and toe-stepping
• Own it don’t rent it
• Super-pumpedness
• Optimistic leadership
• Champion’s mind set
• Celebrate cities
• Inside out
• Making bold bets
• Make magic
• Always be hustlin’
• Principled confrontation
• Let builders build
• Being yourself
• Obsession with the customer
32. Uber values: “Greyball”
Source: letter from Uber to Portland (OR) City Attorney, as quoted in PBOT Greyball Audit Report, April 2017
33. Uber values: Self-driving cars
Source: letter from Brian Soublet, Chief Counsel of California DMV to Uber, December 14, 2016
34. Uber values: Self-driving cars
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CdJ4oae8f4 as reported by CBS San Francisco
35. Uber values: Anthony Levandowski
Source: New York Times, “Uber Executive Invokes Fifth Amendment, Seeking to Avoid Potential Charges”
36. Uber values: Susan Fowler’s experience
Source: Susan Fowler, “Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber”
37. Uber values: Eric Holder’s verdict
Source: Report by Eric Holder and Tammy Albarrán on Uber’s workplace environment in light of Fowler’s experience
38. Software vs. the world
• We in software have allowed values of optimization and
disruption to seep into our organizational thinking
• But what is right for software is not necessarily right for society!
• That software is eating the world does not mean that societal
constraints no longer apply!
• Software is on the cusp of yet broader societal impact — and at
a time when our society is increasingly divided and fractured
• We have a greater burden to society than ever before —
and we need to start acting that way
39. Principles of technology leadership
• With greater information connectedness and with consolidation
into relatively fewer entities, the potential for abuse is great
• There are many grey areas; principles must be elucidated to
assure individuals exercise sound judgement!
• Companies must explicitly treat decency, integrity, and the law
as constraints on the problems that they endeavor to solve!
• So: kick butt, have fun, don’t cheat, love your customers — and
let’s lead the world to a better future!
