alignment-values-north-star

# Alignment: Values & North Star

## Table of Contents

- [Purpose](#purpose)
- [When to Use This Skill](#when-to-use-this-skill)
- [What is Values & North Star Alignment?](#what-is-values--north-star-alignment)
- [Workflow](#workflow)
  - [1. Understand Context](#1--understand-context)
  - [2. Choose Framework](#2--choose-framework)
  - [3. Develop Alignment Artifact](#3--develop-alignment-artifact)
  - [4. Validate Quality](#4--validate-quality)
  - [5. Deliver and Socialize](#5--deliver-and-socialize)
- [Common Patterns](#common-patterns)
- [Guardrails](#guardrails)
- [Quick Reference](#quick-reference)

## Purpose

Create clear, actionable alignment frameworks that give teams a shared North Star (direction), values (guardrails), and decision tenets (behavioral standards). This enables autonomous decision-making while maintaining coherence across the organization.

## When to Use This Skill

- Starting new teams or organizations (defining identity)
- Scaling teams (maintaining culture as you grow)
- Resolving misalignment or conflicts (clarifying shared direction)
- Defining product/engineering/design principles
- Creating strategic clarity after pivots or changes
- Establishing decision-making frameworks
- Setting cultural norms and behavioral expectations
- Post-merger integration (aligning different cultures)
- Crisis response (re-centering on what matters)
- Onboarding leaders who need to understand team identity

**Trigger phrases:** "North Star", "team values", "mission", "vision", "principles", "guardrails", "what we stand for", "decision framework", "cultural alignment", "operating principles"

## What is Values & North Star Alignment?

A framework with three layers:

1. **North Star**: The aspirational direction - where are we going and why?
2. **Values/Guardrails**: Core principles that constrain how we operate
3. **Decision Tenets/Behaviors**: Concrete, observable behaviors that demonstrate values

**Quick Example:**

```markdown
# Engineering Team Ali