There has been a lot of discussion about whether corporations and other organizations are "people" in the eyes of the law. This, of course, has some pretty significant implications for political donations, tax breaks, and a host of other benefits driven by capitalist greed, as we saw with the fallout from the Citizens United SCOTUS case. That granting of constitutional rights to corporations was built on a lie, but the impact of those muddy waters was our own inability to distinguish individual values from organizational principles.
Human beings have values. Organizations, on the other hand, have principles. This may seem like an exercise in semantics, but the importance of this distinction cannot be understated. Our individual values are subjective, internal beliefs and opinions about the world around us, and they can change over time. We are constantly shaping and reshaping our values based on our cultural interactions with the world around us. Family, friends, religious and spiritual leaders, mentors, and many other folx all influence our values.
We can define principles as more concrete rules that determine actions. They are permanent, unchanging, universal, non-negotiable, and establish a mindset or standard of behavior. When we talk about organizational principles, it's important to move past the general principles that are really just baseline expectations for everyone. Commitments like integrity, honesty, openness, inclusivity, and equity come to mind. These are principles all organizations should adhere to, and thus don't set the organization apart from others.
An organization's core principles set it apart from everyone else. Identifying those principles allows an organization to identify what sets it apart from other groups or what makes it unique among many other similarly-situated groups. These are the core, permanent, non-negotiable principles that should be driving an organization's work. Unfortunately, organizations often default to a values discussion, which only serves to reinforce the oppressive hierarchical systems of power and privilege that most likely prevent many within the organization from having a voice in the what and the how of the group.
In other words, values may alienate some folks, whereas core principles create a sense of belonging through a shared understanding of the focus and purpose of the organization. When everyone in the organization can identify the "why", then the core principles have been effectively communicated and embedded into the culture of the organization.
Principles provide a framework for how everyone in the organization is going to act, make decisions, and prioritize aspects of their jobs. An individual may value honesty, but a core principle may be to never lie to a coworker. Whereas as the former is broad and ambiguous (honest about what? to whom? are there exceptions?), the latter is clear and specific, and what's more, it's enforceable.
All of this is not to say that values should not be discussed within organizations. On the contrary, you should identify personal values independently so as to identify gaps among team members within an organization, and gain a better understanding of what drives advocating for certain core principles.
This is not simply an arbitrary distinction either. It can help you think about how best to roll out principles within an organization. Core organizational principles don't come from building consensus through large meetings, surveys, and town halls. The establishment of core principles means carefully imposing those established principles on the larger organization and then giving folx the choice as to whether or not they want to be a part of the organization. You shouldn't be asking for everyone's opinion if everyone's opinions don't matter. Soliciting feedback from everyone also means you're getting feedback from folx that don't belong at the organization in the first place.
Once you've identified those core principles that set your organization apart, then they can serve to ground all of your work. Moving forward, you can ask "how does this choice/program/adjustment uphold one or more of our core principles". If it runs counter to those principles, then the decision needs to be rethought.
When principles are clear and you express them, you weed out folks who don't share a commitment to those principles in the hiring process, and you encourage more people to join that infuse new ways of demonstrating and articulating those principles in their work and decision-making. Clearly identifying and articulating your core principles is an important tool for creating and maintaining psychological safety and ultimately a sense of belonging.
