The team @newkind have been working on our definition of what we do for some time now. I was excited to hear your definition of "values" as our thoughts are aligned similarly.

We have built a team of great people who want to do, and are doing, meaningful work daily.

One of our practices with clients is working with them to build shared practices as well as working with them to identify a shared purpose that they are working towards. All of this indicates shared values and the culture that is needed to succeed in a purpose driven world and in the social era.

I would love to hear more from Josh, and others, on how they have achieved this with their companies.

I'm new to this company building thing so I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer this question. But I very much believe that company "values" are reflected in, and determined [solely] by the people you hire. If you bring on people that smile, giggle, and are relatively goofy, then "happy and sunny" might be a good motto. It's a bottom-up thing, I think.

I love this definition:

Marina Keegan, the Yale student who passed away tragically, wrote of groups of people/loved ones: "It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people, who are in this together."

I feel like our company has captured some essence of being in it together — and the best examples of companies that I have enjoyed working with in the past did the same.

Similarly it feels like you all are in that space based off of other branches.

We always say that you have to do four things well:
> Identify the higher purpose
> Build shared practices (culture/value)
> Connect partners (inside and outside of the organization)
> Create contagious content/tell a compelling story

Has Branch done that in your view? What others have accomplished the same?

The true value of an organisation is it's people, process and product. As Josh highlighted importance of the people, it also important what a delivers and how. Even with great products even bellwether Apple also came under international scrutiny in the past few years for high suicide rates at its partner Foxconn’s Chinese factories due to inhumane condition, one of the main suppliers for Apple products around the world. How the product/service impact society also carries value by an organisation.

That is part of the higher purpose, no? If your purpose is higher than just revenue then it should inform the values and the culture in a positive way.

I belive that company’s fate is driven from it’s objectives and goals only. If the basics are good then every other thing follows by its own. A company creating values for an individual or society as a whole, it no need to worry on any other aspects.

Our co-founder always states that he'd rather have great people and a rough idea of a product than mediocre people and a "perfect" product on day one. Thoughts?

I have same opinion, as without great people neither perfect product can be developed nor maintained. However, rough initial idea of product certainly can be build better after some brainstorm sessions and product development iterations.

Also clear organisational objectives and goals will drive the ideas in the right direction and a product with perceived values.

Values only really show their importance when things get tough. A value is something you stick to even when it's not popular or profitable.

@Nation: You say great people and a rough idea of a product, but how does that translate into actions from your co-founder and your organization? Do you let someone go because they aren't "great"? (And how do you assess that?) How do you make money with a "rough idea of a product?" -- money that is required to keep the doors open?

Values need to be thought of in terms of how they guide you to make decisions when the choices are tough.

We are beginning as a consultancy so we already offer services that generate revenue and brainstorm around future products, Jared.

We do not hire a lot of folks and we rarely, if ever, post job openings. People come through word of mouth and through working with us on projects which means that we have a great team and hope to maintain that over time.

I would argue that values are something to organize around even when times are good.

Sorry. Didn't mean to assert that you shouldn't think about your values during good times. Quite the contrary.

The point I was trying to make was that you can't tell how dedicated you are to those values until you reach a moment where it's uncomfortable or inconvenient to follow them.

Take your new consultancy: Have you established values about the types of projects or clients you'll take? Is it anyone who will pay you? Or will you be more selective?

What happens if someone wants you to do something you find offensive (say a website of rascist content) but offers you a ton of money? Can you find guidance in your values to tell you whether to take the gig or not (even though you might desperately need the cash)?

That's how values work.