Thanks for bringing this topic back @mkkoll. I think articulating a mission statement and the core values for the DAO is essential to keep everyone aligned. As new people join, they can look to our mission statement and values to see what we are about. As you mentioned, we can use our mission statement and values as a guiding north star for decision making.
The Seed of PoolTogether
Early on in PoolTogether’s life Chuck, Leighton and I met at IDEO. We had an activity where we each defined what we thought PT’s values were. What PT represented. All of us phrased it in a different way, but we all shared these themes:
- financial security
- empowering communities
- fun
These themes guided us in early decision making, and seeded the culture of our community.
Our Community Now
Since those early days our community has grown significantly, but our vibes still resonate with those themes.
I believe our mission statement hasn’t changed: we make saving money fun
However, core values are more complex. Core values guide how we conduct ourselves. It’s a social consensus, and it articulates who the community aspires to be.
Google as an Example
Let’s take Google as an example. Their mission statement is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful
Google’s values are:
- Focus on the user and all else will follow.
- It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
- Fast is better than slow.
- Democracy on the web works.
- You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
- You can make money without doing evil.
- There’s always more information out there.
- The need for information crosses all borders.
- You can be serious without a suit.
- Great just isn’t good enough.
The mission statement drives the what, and the values drive the how. This list guides the organization.
It can also change. It should not be considered final or written in stone.
Defining PoolTogether
I believe our mission statement has always been: we make saving money fun. This resonates with everything we’ve done so far, inc and community. The DAO as one.
I think our values are more complex, as how everyone achieves our mission can be very different. There are different teams on the DAO that operate independently, so finding a common thread will require more coordination.
It would be fun if people submitted their ideas for a mission statement and values in this post, and then we created a multi-choice snapshot so that people can signal. No quorum; we know only the dedicated will be watching. We’ll take the strongest outliers and rally around those values.
I’ve presented what I believe should be our mission statement, as it’s simple and captures what we’ve done. I’ll need to think more about our values.
I would love to see others’ thoughts.