Explore the values

How widely shared values relate — and where they pull against each other. No ranking.

12 values

• Honesty

  Saying what you believe is true, and not leaving out what someone needs to know to decide well.

  Often in tension with Loyalty, Compassion · 1 dilemma

• Compassion

  Attending to someone's suffering and letting what you notice change what you do.

  Often in tension with Honesty, Fairness

• Fairness

  Applying the same standard to people in the same situation, including when you would rather not.

  Often in tension with Compassion, Loyalty

• Loyalty

  Standing with the people and groups who have stood with you, especially when it costs you something.

  Often in tension with Honesty, Fairness · 1 dilemma

• Freedom

  Being able to steer your own life, and leaving others room to steer theirs.

  Often in tension with Security, Responsibility

• Security

  Protecting the stability that lets people plan, rest, and take the risks worth taking.

  Often in tension with Freedom, Achievement

• Responsibility

  Owning what follows from your choices, including the parts nobody would catch you leaving undone.

  Often in tension with Freedom, Compassion

• Respect

  Treating someone as a person with their own standing, boundaries, and reasons, whether or not you agree with them.

  Often in tension with Honesty, Fairness

• Belonging

  Being held by a group that knows you, and holding others in return.

  Often in tension with Freedom, Honesty

• Achievement

  Doing something well enough that it holds up, and building the competence to do it again.

  Often in tension with Humility, Fairness

• Humility

  Holding an accurate picture of what you know, what you owe, and how much of your success was circumstance.

  Often in tension with Achievement, Respect

• Care for Nature

  Treating the living world as something owed care, not only as material for our use.

  Often in tension with Achievement, Security