Does anyone have background on the shift from tech companies having "values" to instead having "operating principles"? I assume it came from some VC group text.

Today's GitLab announcement follows that playbook - retiring a written list of values without replacement, instead offering operating principles that are about ways of doing things rather than things that matter.

Same thing happened three years ago at a previous employer when an incoming board-installed CEO needed to make his mark on the company. Same thing a year ago when I asked a founder what kind of company they want to build.

Did Peter Thiel announce that values were woke or something? Are execs really explicitly rejecting the concept of valuing things? Of things mattering, even when you get to pick what things matter?