As Facebook transitions to Meta, in an effort to reshape its public image, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced new company values that underscore Meta’s vision for the future.
Zuckerberg shared the changes in Meta’s values and explained what they mean in a letter sent to all company employees today.
When Meta was called Facebook, it was known for the following mission statement: “Move fast and break the rules.”
As the company matures, these values eventually become: “Empowering people to build community and bring the world closer together.”
Now known as Meta, the company doesn’t operate under a single mission statement.
Instead, Zuckerberg is introducing a set of values that guide the day-to-day operations of the company.
Meta brings back the “move fast” motto – this time without the reckless abandonment of “breaking things” in the process.
The following sections explain in more detail these are Meta’s new company values:
- move quickly
- Focus on long-term impact
- build awesome stuff
- live in the future
- Be direct and respectful of your colleagues
- Yuan, Yuan, I
Since it’s not immediately obvious what these values mean (especially the last one), Zuckerberg breaks down each of them in more detail.
Meta’s new company values
move quickly
This value is about taking urgent action while removing barriers that hold back high-priority initiatives.
Zuckerberg stressed the importance of moving fast as a team, rather than everyone moving fast on their own.
“Move Fast helps us build and learn faster than anyone else. It means taking urgent action and not waiting until next week to do what you can do today. At our scale, it also means eliminating The roadblocks that stand in our way, constantly working to increase the speed of our highest priority initiatives. It’s about moving fast together—as a company, not just as individuals, moving in one direction.”
Focus on long-term impact
The value lies in allowing the company to focus on goals that will take time to achieve, rather than being distracted by short-term gains.
“Focusing on long-term impact emphasizes long-term thinking and encourages us to extend the timeline of the impact we have, rather than optimizing for near-term victories. We should take on the most impactful challenges, even if it takes years to see the full results.”
build awesome stuff
Zuckerberg wants to come out with something better than “good.” This value reflects the company’s goal of providing products that are both functional and inspiring.
“Build Awesome Things pushes us to build things that are not only good, but awesome. We’ve built products that work for billions of people, but in the next chapter, we’ll focus more on inspiring people. This quality standard should applies to everything we do.”
live in the future
Zuckerberg envisions a future where opportunities are not limited by geography. This value defines Meta’s commitment to being a “distribution-first” company.
“Living in the future guides us to build the future of distributed work we want, where opportunities are not limited by geography. That means operating as a distributed-first company and being an early adopter of the future products we are building , to help people feel presence wherever they are.”
Be direct and respectful of your colleagues
Zuckerberg wants more meaningful conversations between employees. This value is designed to guide the team in this direction, while also recognizing the need for respect.
“Being straightforward and respectful to your colleagues is about creating a culture where we are straightforward and willing to have difficult conversations with each other. At the same time, we are also respectful and when we share feedback, we recognize many of the world’s leading Experts work here.”
Yuan, Yuan, I
Zuckerberg wants Meta employees to be collectively referred to as “Metamates.” This value is about fostering a greater sense of unity.
“Meta, Metamates, Me is about being good stewards of our company and our mission. It’s about our sense of responsibility for our collective success and as teammates. It’s about taking care of our company and each other.”
In summary
Zuckerberg signed his letter, stating the following:
“At the end of the day, values are not what you write on your website, but what we hold accountable to each other every day. I encourage you to reflect on these values and what they mean to you as we begin to work on the next chapter of our company.”
source: Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook
Featured Image: FellowNeko/Shutterstock
