The Power of Principles

I love simple but powerful principles.

On expeditions, my three ‘golden rules’ are:
Don’t die,
Don’t get divorced,
Don’t go broke.

In business, my guiding principle is:
I’m allergic to two types of heads —
dickheads and overheads.

When I’m riding my motorcycle on the roads here in Thailand it’s:
“Slow the f&*k down.”

When I work with facilitators delivering our experiential programs, I have three golden principles for them.
I won’t repeat them here — but if you’re part of the team, you’ll know them.

My three core values in life are:
Adventure — I embrace risk and uncertainty to live a life full of adventure
Family — I fully support my family to be the best they can
Discipline — I eat well, train hard, and limit alcohol to be the best I can

Some people call these values.
Some call them guiding principles.
Some call them tenets, behaviours, or rules.
It doesn’t matter what you call them.
What matters is:
They guide your decisions and actions — consistently.
Even when you’re tired.
Even when you’re unmotivated.
Even when you’re stressed.
Even when you’re under pressure.

Sometimes I break my principles.
And when I do, I feel terrible.
That’s how I know they’re real.
If you don’t feel anything when you break your principles,
they probably are not authentic to you.

Good principles are simple — but not easy to create.
They must be:
Memorable
Short, sharp, punchy
Clear (not waffly or ambiguous)
My test is:
Can you remember them?
Do they help you make better decisions?
Do you feel something when you use them?

Over the years, I’ve taken this concept and scaled it through the work we do at Explore Performance.
We help organisations define their culture — not through long, forgettable statements, but through simple, focused principles that:
/ people remember
/ teams align around
/ organisations use consistently to drive decisions and behaviour

This is hard work.
It takes a great deal of effort and time.
I’ve seen it go wrong — when it’s rushed or not defined clearly.
And I’ve seen it go really well — where the outcome is used for years to guide decisions, behaviours and build culture.

When it works, the result is simple:
A single page document.
A clear compass.
With as few words as possible.
I call it “your culture on a page”.

If you don’t have simple, powerful principles guiding you or your team,
What are you guided by?
What guides you in difficult moments?
And more importantly — what guides you on a normal day?

One final thought:
If you ask someone to help define your principles — ask them this first:
What are yours?
If they can’t express them clearly, from memory, with conviction…
are they the right person to help you define yours?