Attended a talk with a fascinating entrepreneur in Nashville who raised $50M and started up a commercial bank in 2017 which was first since 2008.

He said something that helped me wrap my head around company values.

Real issues will never be able to be solved by finding a value and applying it. It’s always about the tension between the values.

You have to prioritize different values in different situations. They are a catch all or an out so that you don’t have to make the tough calls.

I heard similar about the French national motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité. The three are always in tension and must be constantly balanced.