The “so what” of Tenets as a management tool
Next up on the Random Walk Through Tech “foundational articles” series will be “Tenets”. Not the movie, not the incredibly frustrating tenants you have in your “passive income” scheme that turned out to be so much work, and definitely not your work on“multi-tenant” architecture.
Tired of circular debates over the same trade-offs? Frustrated when team decisions seem inconsistent or misaligned with the bigger picture? Tenets are a powerful tool that can be a game-changer. But only when created with thoughtful effort.
Tenets are a functional definition by a group/team/org as to how they operate (prioritize, make decisions, etc).
In case you’re not yet convinced to give the podcast a listen, let’s break down what tenets are, and how they can help.
What’s a Tenet?
To build effective tenets, you must understand their core characteristics. Good tenets are not vague principles; they are sharp, specific guides for action. The most effective ones share these qualities:
They Hardcode Your Vision: Tenets define a team’s core identity and its vision for success. They are the mechanism for preloading decisions about tough, recurring conflicts, establishing a default path before a specific problem even arises.
They Are Pressure-Tested: Valuable tenets are not created in a vacuum. They are the result of rigorous debate and negotiation with other teams, partners, and senior leadership. Tenets that haven’t been challenged or tested by conflict are unlikely to be useful in the long run.
They Are Predictive: A well-written set of tenets should be so specific and clear that an outsider could read them and accurately predict how the team would decide on a practical, real-world issue. If the outcome is still ambiguous after reading the tenets, they aren’t sharp enough.
They Enable Autonomy: Once tenets are debated and agreed upon, a team can operate with significant autonomy. Leadership can trust that the team’s independent decisions will remain aligned with broader company goals because the fundamental “how” and “why” have already been established.
They Are Limited in Number: A team should not have an exhaustive list of rules. The goal is to focus on the most critical guiding principles, with a suggested limit of maybe 6-7 tenets. In most cases I feel 3-4 are not enough.
Now that we understand what tenets are, let’s explore why they are such a valuable tool for any team. Also, how they differ from the mission statement and other similar sounding things. To do so I’d suggest jumping into the podcast, or reading the full article it’s based on.
