WEAVE
Values that run your org, not your wall

WEAVE VALUES
THROUGHOUT
YOUR ORG.

Most orgs' values are wall art. Weave threads yours through everything that shapes behaviour — what you build, how you run, and how you treat people — so they actually run the org.

Why values

THE CASE, IN THREE PARTS

Three quick parts: where values sit, why most fail, and what one fully woven looks like. Open any — or skip straight to building.

01Where values sitVision & strategy → values → culture+

Two forces set your direction — vision (where you're going) and strategy (how you'll win). Values are the convictions that govern how you decide in service of it. Culture is the result — what people do when no one's looking. Values sit at the pivot: downstream of direction, upstream of behaviour.

Vision

Where you're going and why it matters.

Strategy

How you'll win — the hard choices about where to play.

Build this in Groundwork →

Values you are here

The convictions that govern how you decide — the part Weave helps you thread through everything.

Culture

The result — what people actually do when no one is looking.

02What they are & why most failThe difference between a value and a platitude+

What they are

Tie-breakers for when two good options conflict and there's no data left to settle it. Not a vibe — a decision rule. "When speed and polish collide, we ship and learn" is a value. "Excellence" is a mood.

Why they matter

They let people make the call you'd make without asking. Done right, they scale judgement and speed up decisions. Done wrong, they're a trust tax — everyone sees the gap between the poster and the behaviour.

Why most fail

Invented at an offsite as agreeable nouns that cost nothing and live nowhere but a wall. Nobody ever got fired for violating "Integrity." A value that can't be broken isn't a value — it's a platitude.

VALUES WITH TEETH

The orgs whose values actually change decisions all do the same thing: each one rules something specific out. That's the cost — and the clarity.

Netflix
"Dream Team"
A pro sports team, not a family. The "keeper test" rules out keeping a loyal but fading performer out of sentiment.
DoorDash
"Lowest level of detail"
Leaders dig into the specifics — even the CEO does deliveries. Rules out managing from the slide deck.
Amazon
"Day 1"
Rules out treating past success as permission to slow down or stop inventing.
Patagonia
"Cause no unnecessary harm"
Rules out profitable product lines that aren't environmentally sound.

Values as publicly stated by each company. We checked these are current — but companies evolve, so verify against the source before quoting.

03See one fully wovenA worked example, end to end+

One value through all four steps — what Weave actually hands you. Not a poster: a value wired into how the org runs.

01 · Gathered

You describe a behaviour →

"We shipped a rough beta in 8 days and improved it in public."

Weave names the value underneath:

Ship & Learn
02 · Shaped

Scored and rewritten until it settles an argument:

"When speed and polish collide, we ship the rough version to real users and improve it in the open — we never delay to perfect in private."
Costly 5/5Specific 5/5Opposable 4/5
03 · Prioritised

Kept in the final set, with a default for the one moment it clashes:

If Ship & Learn and Craft ever pull apart, we lead with Ship & Learn — rough and real beats perfect and late.
04 · Woven in

Built into the tools you run on so it enforces itself:

// deploy config require_approval: reversible ? false : true slack_alert: "#shipped" every deploy retro_prompt: "what did we ship & learn?"

That's the case. Ready to weave your own?

Optional — sharpens everything below

TELL WEAVE ABOUT YOUR COMPANY

Values don't come from nowhere — they come from what you build, how big you are, how you work, where you want to be, and how you behave on your best days. Give Weave this context and every value you shape gets more specific to you. All optional, but the more you share, the sharper the output.

Highest-signal input — Weave reads your product, market and tone from it.
Where are you headed, and how do you intend to win? Values should serve the strategy — not float beside it.
Industry, mission, a defining constraint — whatever makes your org what it is.
Build your values · four steps
01Gather
02Shape
03Prioritise
04Weave in

GATHER — START WITH BEHAVIOURS

Forget "what do we believe?" The real question: what do people actually do here at their best — or what do you want them to? Answer what you can; new or established, it works either way.

AI-assisted

Go wide here — don't self-edit. You'll surface more than you need on purpose, then cut to a tight 4–6 in the Prioritise step.

What we build forces values: a premium maker can't value "good enough"; a safety-critical one can't value "move fast." Just starting out? Describe what you're setting out to build.
At our best, what do people actually do? Describe the action, not a noun. Just starting out? Describe the behaviour you want to be true from day one.
A decision that proves the value cost you something. Just starting out? Name a line you've already decided you'll hold, even when it's expensive.
What gets someone managed out, even if they're brilliant? A value is defined as much by what it rules out.

SHAPE — MAKE THEM SHARP

Each value is scored against three tests. Low scores mean a dead value pretending to be alive — rewrite until it can settle a real argument.

AI-assisted

01

Is it costly?

A real value makes you say no to something attractive. If it never forces a sacrifice, it's decoration.

02

Is it specific?

Could it settle a real argument at 5pm on a Friday? "Disagree and commit" can; "Teamwork" can't.

03

Defensible opposite?

"Team, not family" works because firms sincerely choose family. If no one would pick the opposite, you've said nothing.

PRIORITISE — CUT, THEN SET YOUR DEFAULTS

The hardest part of values work, and the part most tools skip. First cut to a real set (4–6 — fewer than you think). Then settle the tensions: when two of your values pull in opposite directions, which one wins?

1 Make the cut

Keep the ones that are genuinely true and load-bearing. A tight set of 4–6 beats a wall of 10 nobody remembers. Untick to drop.

2 Set your defaults

These values complement each other most of the time. But in the rare moment two genuinely pull apart, which do you lead with? Setting that default now is what a team can lean on at 5pm on a Friday — it doesn't rank one value above another, it just settles the hard moment in advance.

WEAVE IN — THROUGH PRODUCT, PROCESS & PEOPLE

This is where most value exercises stop and where the real work starts. A poster value lives nowhere. A real one shows up in what you build, how you run, and how you treat people. For each value, here's where to thread it — the basics and what's newly possible.