Working Principles: How We Work Together at Kyndof
Kyndof operates as a professional sports team. This is not a metaphor we use casually - it fundamentally shapes how we hire, evaluate, reward, and sometimes part ways with team members.
Understanding these principles is essential for thriving here. They explain what we value, what we will not tolerate, and why.
Why "Professional Sports Team"?
Companies develop different cultures. Some feel like families - warm but sometimes tolerating poor performance out of loyalty. Some feel like the military - disciplined but potentially stifling individual initiative. Some feel like clubs - social but sometimes lacking focus.
We chose professional sports team because it offers specific advantages:
Performance-based evaluation. Your contribution matters more than your tenure or relationships.
Transparent contribution. In sports, everyone can see who performed. Credit is harder to steal, and hiding is harder.
Shared victory. When the team wins, everyone wins. Compensation, opportunity, and growth are tied to collective success.
Fast feedback. Poor performance gets addressed quickly. This can feel demanding, but it also means you always know where you stand.
Best teammates. High performers want to work with other high performers. This culture attracts and retains excellent people.
The tradeoff is real: we expect more, and job security comes from performance rather than simply showing up. If this sounds uncomfortable, that is worth knowing before joining.
Four Core Values
When values conflict - and they always eventually do - these priorities guide our decisions. The format is "X > Y" meaning X takes precedence over Y. Both matter; X matters more.
1. Impact > Effort
The principle: "I worked hard" is not a defense for "I did not deliver results."
Why this matters:
Startups have limited resources. We cannot afford to spend time on work that does not move us forward. The Pareto principle applies brutally: 20% of work often creates 80% of results. We need people who instinctively focus on that 20%.
In practice:
Do not measure your contribution by hours at your desk. Measure it by outcomes achieved. A person who delivers excellent results in focused time is more valuable than someone who is visibly busy but produces little impact.
The anti-pattern:
"I stayed late every night this week." This might be a sign of dedication, or it might be a sign of poor prioritization, inefficiency, or taking on wrong work. We care about whether the important outcomes happened.
2. Growth > Stability
The principle: If you are doing the same work you did six months ago with no evolution, you have stopped growing.
Why this matters:
Startups change constantly. What we needed yesterday may not be what we need tomorrow. Team members who cannot adapt become liabilities, regardless of past contributions. Your growth enables the team's growth.
In practice:
Actively seek new challenges. Learn new skills. Expand your responsibilities. The goal is not just to maintain competence but to continuously increase your capability and impact.
The anti-pattern:
"This is comfortable, and I am good at it." Comfort is the enemy of growth. If your role never feels challenging, you are probably not growing - and you may be getting left behind.
3. Speed + Improvement > Perfection
The principle: Perfect plans that never execute lose to imperfect plans that ship and iterate.
Why this matters:
In a startup, speed is a competitive advantage. The market does not wait for your perfect solution. Competitors are shipping while you are polishing. More importantly, you often cannot know what "perfect" looks like until you get feedback from real users.
In practice:
Ship at 80% and improve based on feedback. Run short experiments instead of long planning cycles. Make decisions with incomplete information, then adjust based on results.
The anti-pattern:
"We need more research before we can start." This is often fear of failure disguised as diligence. The real learning happens through execution, not planning.
4. Joy in Work > Joy in Leisure
The principle: We seek people who find genuine satisfaction in their professional contribution.
Clarification: This is absolutely not about glorifying overtime or abandoning work-life balance. Rest is essential. Burnout helps no one.
What this actually means:
We want teammates who:
- Feel accomplishment from their work
- Take pride in their craft
- Derive meaning from professional contribution
- Show up Monday morning with energy, not dread
Why this matters:
People who are just "here for the paycheck" do not push for excellence. They do not go the extra step to solve problems creatively. They do not elevate their teammates. In a high-performance environment, this attitude drags everyone down.
The anti-pattern:
Visible disengagement. Complaining about having to work. Doing the minimum to not get fired. These attitudes poison team culture.
Three Inviolable Rules
While the core values guide general behavior, three specific behaviors will result in immediate consequences up to termination. These exist to protect your teammates.
Why These Rules?
Every rule here exists because violating it attacks your coworkers, not just company policy. We protect each other from these attacks.
Rule 1: No External Information Leakage
Forbidden:
- Sharing your own or others' compensation externally
- Sharing contract terms externally
- Leaking internal company information
Why this matters:
Trust-based compensation systems break down when information leaks. Colleagues feel unsafe. High performers leave when they cannot trust their environment.
Consequence: Typically immediate termination.
Rule 2: No Gossip (Invisible Violence)
Definition: Spreading negative feelings about teammates, team, or company to third parties instead of addressing concerns directly with the person involved.
Examples:
- "X is impossible to work with" (told to Y, not X)
- "Management does not care" (complaint spread around instead of raised)
- Creating distrust and anxiety that did not exist before
Why this matters:
Gossip destroys psychological safety. It creates factions. It poisons relationships between people who had no prior conflict. High performers leave first when culture becomes toxic.
The correct approach:
- Address discomfort directly with the person involved (1:1)
- If unresolved, formal meeting with manager
- Never triangulation through third parties
Consequence: Warning, improvement plan, separation if pattern continues.
Rule 3: No Defeatism
Definition: Spreading "we cannot win anyway" mentality.
Examples:
- "It will not work anyway"
- "No point trying hard..."
- "Management will just ignore this..."
Why this matters:
Defeatism tells hardworking teammates that their effort is meaningless. It is contagious - one person's negative attitude can drain an entire team's energy.
The correct approach:
If you are genuinely exhausted or burned out, say so honestly and request recovery time. But do not extinguish others' fire with your words.
Consequence: Coaching, improvement plan, separation if pattern continues.
No Brilliant Jerks
This deserves its own section because it is often misunderstood.
We love talent. We love team more.
A "brilliant jerk" is someone who:
- Produces individually excellent work
- But demeans colleagues, destroys collaboration, or harms team culture
The math:
Brilliant jerk's contribution: +100
5 demoralized teammates: -30 each = -150
2 A-players who quit: -100 each = -200
Net impact: -250
Individual brilliance that costs team performance is a net negative.
Our choice:
We will pass on 150% individual performance that damages the team. We will embrace 100% individual performance that elevates the team to 120%.
This principle is why we can promise:
- No internal politics required
- Credit for your contributions
- Good teammates who stay
Seven Competency Areas
We evaluate talent across these dimensions:
| Competency | What We Look For |
|---|---|
| Problem Solving | Identifying issues, generating solutions, implementing fixes |
| Teamwork | Contributing to collective success, not just personal wins |
| Impact Orientation | Focus on outcomes over activities |
| Communication | Clear, efficient, appropriate to context |
| Domain Knowledge | Expertise in your specific area |
| Self-Motivation | Internal drive, initiative without constant direction |
| Digital Nativeness | Fluency with tools and technology |
No one is perfect in all seven. Know your strengths and develop your weaknesses.
Five Operational Principles
These guide daily work execution:
1. Measure to Improve
"You cannot improve what you do not measure."
Track metrics. Analyze patterns. Make data-driven decisions. Gut feeling is a starting point, not an endpoint.
2. Systems Over People
"Solve problems with systems."
If someone fails at a task, do not just replace them - ask why the task setup allowed failure. Build processes that make success easier and failure harder.
3. Value Time
"Buy time with money."
Use external resources actively. Outsource when appropriate. Do not optimize labor cost at the expense of speed when speed matters more.
4. Direction Alignment
"Align with leadership direction."
Individual initiatives must connect to team and company direction. Creative autonomy is valuable, but it must point in the same direction as everyone else.
5. Assume Positive Intent
"Assume good faith."
Tone can be harsh. Situations can be stressful. Communication can be clumsy. Default to assuming your colleague had positive intentions, even when the delivery was imperfect.
Request feedback actively. Receive it gratefully. All of it serves team and company growth.
When Things Go Wrong: The 30-60-90 Day Plan
When behavior or performance misaligns with these principles, we start with dialogue, not dismissal.
Month 1 (30 days): Identify specific issues. Create improvement plan. Provide support.
Month 2 (60 days): Check progress. Adjust plan if needed. Continue support.
Month 3 (90 days): Evaluate sustained improvement.
If no improvement:
This is not "failure." It is discovering that this team and this person do not fit each other well. We prioritize protecting 90% of teammates who are working safely over accommodating one person who creates problems.
The philosophy:
We are not trying to be harsh. We are trying to maintain an environment where:
- Teammates can take risks safely
- Juniors can ask questions comfortably
- The team can go further together
Common Questions
Is this too harsh or cold?
Professional sports teams are demanding, but they are also:
- Fair (performance-based, not political)
- Supportive (best resources for success)
- Rewarding (wins benefit everyone)
The high expectations come with high support and high rewards.
What if I disagree with a principle?
Open discussion is encouraged. Challenge ideas in meetings. Propose alternatives. But once the team decides, alignment is expected. If there is fundamental misfit, honest conversation about whether the role is right is better for everyone.
How do I balance speed vs quality?
"Speed + Improvement > Perfection" does not mean sloppy work. It means:
- Shipping 80% solution beats waiting for 100% that never ships
- Learning from real feedback beats guessing in planning
- Iterating quickly beats perfecting slowly
Quality still matters. We just get there through iteration rather than extended planning.
Summary
Working at Kyndof means:
- Impact matters more than effort. Results over hours.
- Growth is expected. Continuous development, not stagnation.
- Speed beats perfection. Ship and iterate.
- Joy in craft matters. Find meaning in your work.
- Protect your teammates. No leaks, no gossip, no defeatism.
- Team over individual. No brilliant jerks tolerated.
These principles exist to create an environment where excellent people can do excellent work together. Understanding them helps you thrive here. Embodying them makes you invaluable.
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- Related: Value Streams, RABSIC Framework, Communication Norms