<aside> 👉 “Values guide decision-making and a sense of what’s important and what’s right...They are the bedrock underneath the surface that will be there 10 or 100 years from now.” — [startupceo.com](https://startupceo.com/2015/06/the-difference-between-culture-and-values#:~:text=Values guide decision-making and,values should never really change.&text=Value changes are few and far between.)
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Our values define how we operate and behave and dictate our Culture. We also use them for measuring when we are performing well or underperforming — for instance, they are used in 1-1s and company All Hands. This goes both ways: managers will provide feedback on values, but expect the same in return. We also use values to make tough decisions or tradeoffs and they often act as a tie-breaker: “Which path maps more closely to our values?”
We should expect that we won’t always hit our values. We’re not going to be perfect all the time and we will fail a lot, but we should take pride in the process of correcting course and improving.
If you aren’t a Datapane employee and are considering joining, our values should also give you a good idea if we are the right fit for you and what we expect from the team.
<aside> 👉 We shouldn’t expect we magically always hit these; it takes effort and it’s a goal we are always work towards and holding each other to.
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We think the workplace should be invigorating and friendly. Building startups is hard, so we try to be an optimistic bunch, where everyone aims to make others feel great about themselves. This means we leave our egos at the door, try to think charitably, are open to feedback (wherever it comes from), and remain humble - we’ve found the best folks have the confidence to admit they don’t know everything and are always open to learning more.
Great people aren’t sloppy: they act like pros. Diligence covers everything from taking pride and care at your work to high-fidelity communication, which is particularly important in remote-first teams.
We are always looking for the path which has the greatest impact (maximum flow), in the shortest amount of time and effort (minimum cut). This is a tool we use internally to set priorities and decide what we should do and not do.
It means we like to move quickly and with pragmatism, focussing on delivery over perfection.
We believe that the best managers set context instead of micromanaging, and that the best people thrive by having ownership and working autonomously. This means we hire people we can trust to excel at self-organisation, self-management, and who can make complex high-quality decisions.