This very non-technical presentation explored the role that values play in professional decision-making and community participation. Rather than taking a blind leap into new opportunities, we can evaluate alignment between our personal values and those of the organizations and communities we join.
Event details
WordCamp Phoenix 2023, Phoenix, Arizona
January 2023
Summary
Drawing briefly from academic research, the session introduced four forms of value statements: espoused, attributed, shared, and aspirational. While many organizations communicate values publicly, the most important question is whether those values are actually practiced. Verifying alignment through lived experience and conversation is more meaningful than reading a mission statement alone.
Values in the WordPress ecosystem
The WordPress project’s mission to democratize publishing is more than a slogan. It reflects commitments to openness, accessibility, collaboration, and inclusion. WordCamps embody these principles by celebrating learning, encouraging participation, and fostering community contribution.
These values closely mirror core engineering principles: building systems that are extensible, publishing best practices for others to follow, documenting decisions, and improving tools for everyone. Democratizing publishing also supports democratizing engineering, user experience, and accessibility.
Why alignment matters
- Values provide clarity when choosing communities and career paths
- Healthy open-source ecosystems depend on shared commitments, not just shared code
- Engineering work gains meaning when it advances accessibility and participation
- Alignment between personal and community values leads to sustainable contribution
When the values of a community align with our own, contribution becomes natural. In that context, everyday WordPress work becomes part of something larger: expanding access, strengthening collaboration, and building tools that serve more people.