A matter of Principles

Peter Hanney shares a key part of the Through Technology toolkit for communicating our ethos and behaviours.

As managing partners, it is very important to John and I that, as we grow Through Technology, we find ways to actively maintain the ethos, behaviours and standards that make us stand out from the crowd.

This was easy in the early days of the company because John and I were hands-on in every project and could demonstrate intent-based leadership directly*. But as we grow, we need to communicate that message differently and ensure that everyone subscribes to and demonstrates our ethos in how they work day-to-day.

Now lots of companies have principles that they share widely, often more for marketing purposes than anything else…. For example, Google's used to include the headline-grabbing “Don’t be Evil**”. But, how many companies actually explain why their principles exist? why they matter to everyone? and how they'll be supported?

So that’s what we have set out to do…. And here’s the result:

When it comes to how a business behaves, we believe strongly in positive intent and setting our principles out in this format demonstrates that to our people. We don’t just have principles. We have principles designed to benefit everyone we work with and practical instructions to ensure they are followed.

If you are a partner, current or potential Through Technology customer, please get in touch and I’d be happy to talk to you about how we developed our actual principles, what they are and some great pointers on developing your own. If you are a Through Technology competitor, you’re welcome to copy the format and make the world a better place, but beyond that you are on your own 😊.

* To learn about Intent-based Leadership, you can visit the inventor's website: David Marquet or read his excellent book "Turn the Ship Around".

**Google dropped the "don't be evil" line around the time that they bought closest-thing-to-a-terminator robotics company Boston Dynamics and started investing in AI. Surely a coincidence ;)