Values come first
To be values, they must be lived.
Core Question: What values are you living—and are they aligned with what matters most?
Values aren’t optional.
We all live them—whether we’ve named them or not.
They show up in what we prioritize, what we ignore, how we respond under pressure, and where we place our trust.
So the real question isn’t
“Do you have values?”
It’s:
Do you know the values you’re already living?
And are they aligned with what matters most?
Values aren’t aspirational slogans or cultural decor.
They’re the underlying, living-structure of decisions, design, and behaviour.
They act like source code—for individuals, for teams, for entire systems—at every scale of ‘you’.
And because values always shape systems, they come first.
So I want to share mine—not just the ones I espouse, but the ones I commit to practicing.
Aim for What's Generative,
not what's Polarizing
Core Question: What gives life, momentum, or meaning—and how might we move toward that?
Look beyond “what’s good or bad” in a situation for what’s generative.
This means designing for aliveness, not compliance—building systems that regenerate energy, clarity, and coherence from the inside, not only through external force.
Look for What's Not Yet Visible
Core Question: What else might be going on here—beneath the surface, between the lines, or just out of view?
Resist premature conclusions.
Listen with curiosity, track patterns, and name what hasn’t yet been said—because transformation begins in the unseen.
Make Space for What Matters
Core Question: What wants to emerge or evolve here?
Create space—relational, structural, systemic—for clarity and next steps to arise from within the system itself.
The context contains ‘intelligence’, or what you might think of as information, that we often fail to notice.
This isn’t about solving fast—it’s about sensing what’s going on in the system.
Systemic Coherence
Core Question: What must be connected—people, practices, purpose—for this to work as a whole?
The parts and the whole, the self and the system, are inseparable. For one to be healthy, the other must also be healthy.
Integrate across layers—self, team, tech, structure, decision rhythm—so the system can breathe, adapt, and serve both the whole and the parts that make the whole.
Fragmentation is easy, and common. Coherence takes intention and design.
Ongoing Inquiry
Core Question: How might we generate new insight—from what we know, and what we’ve yet to ask?
What some call learning, I think of as a moment of insight—when something you once understood intellectually becomes applicable in real time.
We don’t chase answers—we shape better questions because questions shape what answers are possible.
Inquiry isn’t a phase—it’s the way of approaching projects, change, transformation, relationship, business, life.
Precision with Presence
Core Question: What would bring the most clarity, accuracy, or resonance right now?
Choose language carefully, design experiences intentionally, align actions cohesively, and intervene at the level that matters most.
Precision is not control—it’s care, applied with craft.
Life Affirming Design
Core Question: What are we really reinforcing, rewarding, and replicating—and is it generative?
Design systems and organizations that don’t just “work,” according to the current metrics, but actually support individual, team, and organizational vitality.
You’ll spend many of your best waking hours working. Shouldn’t this be a life-affirming, generative experience for you and those around you?
