Our values
How we work,
in four values.
We didn’t write these over lunch. Each one comes with a real story from our team.
See it. Own it.
Problems don’t need invitations.
When something is broken, blocked or ignored, we take the next step. We fix it, bring a fix, pull in the right person, or hand it off cleanly. We never just walk past it.
When you find a problem
Can it be undone?
What it looks like
- Fix the problem you find.
- Bring the problem with your best fix.
- Stay with a handoff until the next owner is clear.
- Own what you ship. If AI made it, your name is still on it.
What it isn’t
Taking over other people’s work, or acting without thinking.
You don’t have to do everything. You do have to make sure something happens.
The out-of-office wasn’t the answer
- The moment
Sam needed one answer to keep a project moving. The person who had it was out of office.
- The easy way out
Park the work until they got back, and blame the calendar for the delay.
- What happened
That same day, Sam asked John to get the answer directly.
The blocker didn’t have Sam’s name on it. He owned the next move anyway.
Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Every rep should teach us something.
We’re never done learning. We put our work in front of real people, watch what pushes back, and make the next version better. Learning that never changes the work is trivia. Experience that teaches us nothing is just repetition.
How a rep works
- 1Ship it
- 2See what pushes back
- 3Find the gap
- 4Run it again
What it looks like
- Treat today’s best as the starting point.
- Stay curious, most of all when something seems to work.
- Test ideas with customers, evidence and real use.
- Turn feedback into action, not just talk.
- Give each other direct feedback that makes the work better.
- Improve yourself as deliberately as you improve the product.
- When something fails, fix the work or the system, not just the explanation.
What it isn’t
Endless tinkering, or chasing every new idea.
We learn with a purpose. Getting better is part of the job, not something we do after the “real work” is done.
Reading isn’t running
- The moment
We built the first version of Worker after reading the books. We knew the ideas cold. Then we ran it, and real use showed us things reading never could.
- The easy way out
The first version mostly worked. We could have defended it and kept going.
- What happened
We used what running it taught us and rebuilt it while we kept running it.
The first version wasn’t wasted. It was the first rep, and it taught us how to build the next one.
Say the hard thing.
Unsaid is unsolved.
We say what we think, to the person who needs to hear it, while it can still change something. We don’t fake agreement to keep a meeting comfortable, then have the real conversation afterward.
Where the hard thing gets said
No meeting after the meeting
What it looks like
- Say it while it still matters.
- Bring the objection, make your case, ask the hard question.
- Challenge the idea, no matter whose idea it is.
- Don’t fold just because someone pushed harder.
- Change your mind when the evidence earns it.
- Once we decide, commit fully.
What it isn’t
Using “honesty” as an excuse to be careless or cruel.
Being direct should make the decision, the work or the relationship better. If it does none of those, it’s just noise.
We didn’t write our values over lunch
- The moment
At one of our first offsites, someone suggested we write our values on the spot. We had just met, and everyone was tired.
- The easy way out
Nod along and have a list by lunch.
- What happened
One of us didn’t nod. He told the person who suggested it, right there, that getting values right had taken two quarters at his last company. A list written in an hour would just be words on paper. It was awkward for a moment. It was also what the room needed.
He said the hard thing to the person, while it could still change the decision. Not in the car afterward.
Stay until they win.
Done means the customer got the result.
Closing a deal, shipping a feature, answering a message or closing a ticket isn’t the finish line. The customer’s result is. We stay close enough to know whether it worked.
Where the finish line is
- Deal closedNot the finish
- Feature shippedNot the finish
- Message answeredNot the finish
- Ticket closedNot the finish
- The customer got the resultThe finish line
What it looks like
- Understand the real result behind the request.
- Treat customer friction as urgent.
- Help when you can, even if the question wasn’t for you.
- Cross team lines when the customer’s result needs it.
- Close the loop and check that it worked.
- Never make a job title, a process or “not my area” the final answer.
- Tell customers the truth, even when it isn’t what they hoped to hear.
What it isn’t
Saying yes to every request.
Sometimes helping a customer win means pushing back, giving an honest no, or showing a better way to get there.
The client didn’t need an org chart
- The moment
A client asked a question in our shared channel. It wasn’t addressed to Michael, and nobody had assigned it to him.
- The easy way out
Leave it for whoever owned the channel.
- What happened
Michael knew the answer, so he stepped in and solved it before anyone asked him to.
The client didn’t care whose name was on the question. They needed an answer. That’s how Worker should feel to every customer: the right person moves, and the problem doesn’t wait on our org chart.
Try it
Which value fits? Tap a situation.
Four moments from a normal week, and the value behind each one.
