The Pillars of our Guiding Principles
It is not the critic who counts… —Theodore Roosevelt
Our Inspiration
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. —Theodore Roosevelt, Citizenship in a Republic, 1910 speech
These are our guiding principles for doing meaningful work in public. Whether you’re building, sharing, shipping, or iterating, the arena demands more than just ideas. It demands form, feeling, and function.
Build something solid enough to climb.
Without structure, all effort collapses under its own weight. This isn’t rigidity—it’s reliability. Structure is what lets others enter, improve, or scale your work.
#frameworks #systems #models #architecture #process #schema #scaffolding #discipline #boundaries #constraints
If it doesn’t echo in someone else, what’s the point?
Resonance is emotional signal integrity. It’s not how loud you are—it’s how true it feels. This is the pillar that carries trust, clarity, and culture.
#empathy #narrative #signal #aesthetic #vibe #meaning #connection #clarity #EQ #echo
It has to do something.
Even beauty has a job. Your work should move something forward—a person, a process, a possibility. If it doesn’t serve, it isn’t finished.
#practicality #actionability #relevance #usefulness #leverage #tooling #deliverable #impact #purpose #consequence
For Quick Use in the Arena
Pillar | Purpose | When It’s Missing | What It Looks Like in Action |
Structure | To ground and scale | Chaos, collapse, drift | Roadmaps, naming conventions, APIs |
Resonance | To connect and inspire | Disconnection, silence | Storytelling, UI design, analogies |
Utility | To serve and make meaning real | Wasted effort, vanity | Tools, automations, calls to action |
If you’re ever lost on what to do next, ask:
- Does this have a shape (Structure)?
- Does this make someone feel or respond (Resonance)?
- Does this help or move something (Utility)?
If you’re missing one—go back in the arena.
The Field Guide to Emergence
Why We Have Principles, What the Pillars Do, and What Grows From Them
🌍 Welcome to the World of the Pillars
Every team is a bit like a village, a crew, or a guild. To thrive in motion, we don’t just need rules—we need rhythm. So we don’t start with policies. We start with a strong foundation of three pillars.
🧱 The Three Pillars (a.k.a. Our Engine Room)
Every principle we follow is rooted in one or more of these foundational forces:
- Structure → The skeleton, the scaffolding, the “what’s allowed and what holds up”
- Resonance → The vibes, the humanity, the feel of “this fits”
- Utility → The purpose, the function, the point of the thing
They’re not rules. They’re forces of nature in our little universe.
💡 Why We Even Have Principles
Let’s be real: chaos is fast. But trust, growth, and momentum? Those need alignment. So we use guiding principles to:
- Make decisions faster, smarter, and with less second-guessing
- Spot good behavior (and weird vibes) before they grow roots
- Empower everyone to act—even when the handbook’s quiet
Principles are our operating system. They tell us how to be, not just what to do.
🧠 Wait… So What’s “Emergence”?
Glad you asked. Emergence is the weird magic that happens when the three pillars work together. Not designed. Not forced.
Just… appears.
🌱 Emergent Concepts (a.k.a. What Grows in the Garden)
When the pillars are strong and the principles clear, unexpected beauty grows:
Trust: Structure gives reliability, resonance gives connection, utility delivers results
Imagination: Structure holds the dream, resonance gives it meaning, utility makes it usable
Belonging: Structure includes, resonance affirms, utility respects
Momentum: Structure enables flow, resonance energizes, utility drives forward
Meaning: Structure offers context, resonance brings depth, utility proves value
Resilience: Structure flexes, resonance adapts, utility evolves
Identity: Structure defines roles, resonance mirrors self, utility sharpens expression
These aren’t set-and-forget goals you pinned to your vision board. They’re outcomes of doing the basics well.
🧬 Our Framework in One Breath
The why: so we can act fast, align deeply, and stay human. The how: our principles, born from structure, resonance, and utility. The what: trust, imagination, belonging, and more—emerging naturally, if we get the pillars right.