Yes, after reading Good to Great by Jim Collins (because it was recommended by another author I respect, which was, IIRC, Steve Blank), I decided to sit down and formalize some stuff about the vision / mission / values for Fogbeam Labs. The first draft that we came up with looks something like this (not to suggest that this couldn't use some more work,mind you)
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Our mission...
Build software and provide services that enable organizations to display greater “organizational intelligence;” sense, respond and react to their environment in a more agile manner, and support more adaptive and effective organizational structures.
Democratize access to advanced information processing software by participating in the development of F/OSS software which can be used freely by organizations of any size or nature.
Give back to the world by participating as an ethical member of the world-side free-software / open-source software community.
Create an organization where people dedicated to the advancement of technology will want to work, will be rewarded for doing well, and will receive nurturance, guidance, and encouragement.
Promote entrepreneurship as the best tool available for raising the standards of living for people worldwide, by sponsoring educational initiatives and supporting charitable organizations which promote: STEM ( “Science / Technology / Engineering / Math”) education and education on Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship.
Core Values
We favor...
Transparency and openness... over secrecy and information hiding … in our relationships with each other, our partners, the F/OSS community, and our local communities.
Critical thinking, logic and reason … over … superstition, blind adherence to dogma, and groupthink.
Respect for the individual and their freedom of choice … over … herd mentality, conformance for the sake of conformance, and fear of what we consider different.
Courage and the willingness to commit to our principles … over … knee-jerk reactions, conformance to peer pressure, and compromise of our fundamental values.
The long view and building for the future, while not sacrificing the present … over … short-sighted compromise of our vision and values in order to achieve a tactical objective today.
Being Good … over … Being Evil.
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As far as how long it took... when I sat down and started thinking about my values (which, because I was a solo founder at the time, meant they were the default company values) and the kind of company I am trying to build, it didn't take long to get the basics in place.
Did we publish it publicly? Yes, as part of a post to the company blog:
Honestly, I think this stuff matters. I can't prove it scientifically (and supposedly neither can Jim Collins, since some of his research has subsequently been "debunked") but I believe it very strongly.
Comments
Yes, after reading Good to Great by Jim Collins (because it was recommended by another author I respect, which was, IIRC, Steve Blank), I decided to sit down and formalize some stuff about the vision / mission / values for Fogbeam Labs. The first draft that we came up with looks something like this (not to suggest that this couldn't use some more work,mind you)
-------
Our mission...
Build software and provide services that enable organizations to display greater “organizational intelligence;” sense, respond and react to their environment in a more agile manner, and support more adaptive and effective organizational structures.
Democratize access to advanced information processing software by participating in the development of F/OSS software which can be used freely by organizations of any size or nature.
Give back to the world by participating as an ethical member of the world-side free-software / open-source software community.
Create an organization where people dedicated to the advancement of technology will want to work, will be rewarded for doing well, and will receive nurturance, guidance, and encouragement.
Promote entrepreneurship as the best tool available for raising the standards of living for people worldwide, by sponsoring educational initiatives and supporting charitable organizations which promote: STEM ( “Science / Technology / Engineering / Math”) education and education on Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship.
Core Values
We favor...
Transparency and openness... over secrecy and information hiding … in our relationships with each other, our partners, the F/OSS community, and our local communities.
Critical thinking, logic and reason … over … superstition, blind adherence to dogma, and groupthink.
Respect for the individual and their freedom of choice … over … herd mentality, conformance for the sake of conformance, and fear of what we consider different.
Courage and the willingness to commit to our principles … over … knee-jerk reactions, conformance to peer pressure, and compromise of our fundamental values.
The long view and building for the future, while not sacrificing the present … over … short-sighted compromise of our vision and values in order to achieve a tactical objective today.
Being Good … over … Being Evil.
###
As far as how long it took... when I sat down and started thinking about my values (which, because I was a solo founder at the time, meant they were the default company values) and the kind of company I am trying to build, it didn't take long to get the basics in place.
Did we publish it publicly? Yes, as part of a post to the company blog:
http://fogbeam.blogspot.com/2011/06/blogging-fogbeam-custome...
We then revisited the "mission statement" stuff in our very next post:
http://fogbeam.blogspot.com/2011/06/blogging-fogbeam-episode...
Honestly, I think this stuff matters. I can't prove it scientifically (and supposedly neither can Jim Collins, since some of his research has subsequently been "debunked") but I believe it very strongly.