Standards #1: describe values, design principles, Policies
Goal: Write down your values and how they'll shape decisions.
Values are big ideas or ethics, or beliefs. But when a value isn’t aligned with the way systems usually work, it’s not easy to retrain our brains to imagine differently.
Workflows help. Below, we share a template for moving values down to day-to-day decisions. It can spark unexpected forms of creativity. We prioritize practice over perfection. This framework comes directly from Make Justice Normal, which is dedicated to building organizational systems that reflect justice, loving care, and solidarity.
Values: What universally matters to you and how systems would operate if your values were normal
Design principles: How values might apply to a mission, project, or product
Policies: Specific guidance for day-to-day decisions
Values (Tab 1)
Decide the priority ethics that you want to apply across everything you do. Street Works adopts MJN’s values, which we see as universal. You can revise, replace, or use MJN values freely. Work as a group (if applicable), individual, or both.
Step #1: Brainstorm values. Work through the first 5 rows. You don't need to look at anything else. Your goal is to put energy only on values that are “ultra” important, but you might need to iterate to decide.
Step #2: Brainstorm characteristics and their elements. Work through rows 6 & 7. Your goal is to think about how systems should look or function like (characteristics) if your values were normal. If some values are high priority, work on them sooner. If you’re uncertain, wait until you've decided their importance.
Step #3: Stand back and notice challenges. Here's your moment to be skeptical, add anything missing, and decide priorities. Skepticism helps foresee & meet challenges, vs decide what not to do.
design principles (tab 2)
MJN’s values are universal for building a just society, regardless of mission and style. We use design principles to add a layer of values that might apply to specific missions or projects. We've prefilled rows with Street Works design principles. You might not need any. You can always revisit things later.
Step #1: Add principles unique to a body of work/ mission. They may also apply to multiple characteristics, like ours do. They may also add emphasis to characteristics.
Step #2: Explain why this principle matters and prioritize among them.
Policies (Tab 3)
Policies translate characteristics and design principles into repeatable decisions. We see them as decision shortcuts that prevent us from defaulting back to “the way things are usually done”— not as rules to control people.
This template is meant to help create simple working norms, not manuals. A policy does not need to be perfect to be useful. You’re also not trying to predict every scenario. Find anchors for decisions everyone on your team can see, understand, and test when concrete decisions are being made.
Column A: Pick a specific decision point
Column B: Name the default way decisions usually go
Column C: Decide how your values require a different choice
Column D: Write a simple policy statement that can be reused. You can expand upon them over time.
Further columns: Which characteristics or design principles it applies to.
Standards Related Resources
Understand & celebrate what happened, to build for what’s next.