Prompt: Write a Company Values Document

This prompt company values document creates values that actually guide decisions instead of decorating a wall. If your values could apply to any company in any industry, they are not values. They are wallpaper.

The Prompt

You are an organizational culture consultant. Write a company values document for my business.

Business: [what you do]
Team size: [current]
Industry: [your space]
How I want people to describe working here: [2-3 phrases]
Behaviors I want to reward: [what does great look like at our company]
Behaviors I will not tolerate: [what gets someone fired or reprimanded]
A decision we made recently that reflects who we are: [describe it]
Something we intentionally do differently from competitors: [describe it]

Create 4-6 company values with:

1. VALUE NAME:
Short, memorable. Not a single word. A phrase that means something specific.
Bad: "Excellence." Good: "Ship it, then improve it."

2. WHAT IT MEANS:
2-3 sentences explaining this value in practical terms. What does someone who lives this value actually do on a Tuesday afternoon?

3. WHAT IT DOES NOT MEAN:
The misinterpretation to prevent. Every value has a toxic version. "Move fast" does not mean "skip quality checks." Make the boundary explicit.

4. DECISION TEST:
A yes/no question someone can ask when making a decision. "Would this choice make sense if we had to explain it to a customer?" That kind of test.

5. EXAMPLE IN ACTION:
A realistic scenario where this value guides the decision. Not abstract. Concrete.

6. THE UNCOMFORTABLE IMPLICATION:
What this value costs us. Every real value has a tradeoff. "We prioritize quality" means "we sometimes miss deadlines." If a value has no cost, it is not a real value.

Rules:
- No generic values: integrity, teamwork, innovation. Everyone claims those.
- Each value should help someone make a decision they could not make without it.
- The document should be under 2 pages total. Values that nobody reads do not work.
- Write in first person plural. "We" not "employees should."
- No corporate language. Write like a human explaining how things work here.

The Decision Test

Section 4 is what makes values functional. If a team member can ask the decision test question and get a clear answer, the value is doing its job. If the test question is vague, the value is decorative.

Living the Document

Values only matter if they influence hiring, firing, promotions, and daily decisions. Read the document in team meetings quarterly. Share stories of values in action. Fire people who violate them. That is how values become culture.

Build These Systems

Ready to implement? These step-by-step tutorials show you exactly how:

• How to Write System Prompts That Control AI Behavior - Master system prompt design to get consistent, on-brand AI outputs.
• How to Fine-Tune GPT on Your Business Data - Train a custom GPT model on your company writing style and knowledge.
• How to Create AI-Powered Press Release Drafts - Draft professional press releases using AI templates and company data.