A Guide To Change For Everybody: Guiding Principles
This chapter is from the book “Next For Me: A Guide to Change for Everybody” from the founders of Next For Me.
Your guiding principles are informed by your defined core values. It helps to have these in place as a measure and test for your work. We ask ourselves, “does the task at hand meet the measure of the principles?”
Let’s say you have the chance to work with a big oil company that has been dumping crude in the ocean, and one of your guiding principles is “work with earth-friendly companies,” well, you see how it works.
If you are firmly conscious of the principles, the standards test will just happen in the background as you move through your days. A regular review of the principles is recommended, as it is an opportunity to see if things have changed and if you need to make any adjustments or additions. Like, for example, you have a new business partner with some iffy professional associations – is that a big deal for you, or is it something you can overlook?
As David Allen puts it:
“Your principles create the boundaries of your plan.”
Guiding principles will serve as a guide for how you behave, the intent of what you’re building, and what the acceptable norms are to get there.
When developing yours, think of statements such as:
- I am transparent in my interactions.
- I am compassionate and seek to understand those I interact with.
- I choose to work with ethically-sound organizations.
- I am open to other points of view.
- And the infamous statement from Google, “Do No Evil”.
Read: Knowing What You Stand For
Do the exercise: Identifying Your Core Values
This chapter is from the book “Next For Me: A Guide to Change for Everybody” from the founders of Next For Me.
