Musings
I write about various IT-related things, enabling others to do cool stuff (aka: being a manager), free and open source software, selfcare, IT infrastructure as well as anything that interests and drives me. Most posts are in english, some in german. Currently there is no direct way to comment here - however I’m very open to feedback and am always happy to be discuss matters I post here. Feel welcome to reach out to me. See contact.
Principles matter or on the importance of a mission statement
- 2 February 2026
- en
- Blog
Through some conversations in the last few weeks, it became important to me to write a few sentences on principles. While often people differentiate between work and private life, I’m in the camp that when it comes to certain things there is no business or work side of things. It is the same person that acts, and I’m always acting within the context of the person that I am. Just as with purpose, I hold it with the following quote of Henry Rollins:
No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time, no such thing as down time. All you got is life time. Go.
My set of principles has accompanied me for a long time already. From very early on we had a “No Bullshit Policy” at the first company (bytemine GmbH) I founded. The “No Bullshit Policy” was to make sure, that we’re always transparent and honest to our customers. For our customers it meant, that they could trust our statements - even if we made mistakes. For the people working at bytemine it meant a healthy culture and psychological safety.
About ten years ago I wrote them down for the first time. I actually do have a copy in my wallet as well as on my desk. They serve well in difficult decision-making, as small reminders in daily life or reminding me to stick to them no matter how hard it seems. Since I wrote them down for the first time they’ve seen some small refinements in wording and additions (for example, when my son was born). In the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey (personally, I find it is a terrible title for the book. Since the title can be interpreted as some kind of “highly optimize your life”-bullshit, which the book definitely is not!) principles or mission statements are considered a flight corridor that airplanes have. When an commercial airplanes travels from London to New York, it has a fairly definite course, but within this course (the flight corridor) it moves a bit left and right / up and down. The original variant is in German. The wording is on purpose, straightforward, and simple.
- I am committed
- I am an idealist
- I have time
- I smile
- I create added value
- I live sustainably and economically
- I live consciously
- I am well-read
- I am confident
- I understand before I form an opinion
- I see my fellow human beings as a whole and not just their actions
- I have my own opinion and stand up for it
- I am reliable and honest
- I am a loving father and husband
- I make time for my family
- I am respectful and appreciative
- I am grateful
- I am open to feedback and listen
- I don’t do things to please others, I do them right
- I am aware of the consequences of my actions
The talk that Rosanna Sibora gave in the “Building Europe’s Public Digital Infrastructure” devroom at FOSDEM 2026 reminded me, that it is an important time right now to be verbose on these topics. It is a good time to talk more publically about the importance of having a backbone.