Understanding Values, Beliefs, and Principles: A Reflection on Erikson Coaching, the Cynefin Model, and IDCF DevOps Values

1. Interpretation of Values, Beliefs, and Principles

The author, who is studying Erikson coaching, shares a personal reading of the three concepts. Beliefs ("Believing") are described as single‑sentence statements that can be positive or negative, rooted in past experiences and influencing present and future actions. Principles ("Principle") are also single‑sentence guidelines, mainly directing future behavior and often derived from values. Values are abstract, usually expressed as single words, representing the positive intent behind actions and forming the highest logical layer of personal integration.

2. Linking Values, Beliefs, and Principles to the Cynefin Model

The Cynefin model, introduced by Dave Snowden in 1999, categorises decision contexts into Simple, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic, and Disorder. The author maps principles to the Simple domain, beliefs to the Complicated domain, and values to the Complex domain, arguing that values guide behavior when causal relationships are unclear.

3. IDCF’s DevOps Beliefs, Values, and Principles

IDCF (International DevOps Coach Federation) is a community founded to promote end‑to‑end DevOps coaching. Its stated beliefs include a strong conviction in Agile and Lean thinking, acceptance of uncertainty, and the use of software as a powerful problem‑solving tool.

The organisation defines a set of DevOps values (e.g., Business over Architecture over Technology; People over Process over Tool; Principle over Method over Practice) and a list of ten DevOps principles such as “Follow the First Principle,” “Take an Economic View,” “Embrace a Growth Mindset,” “Use System Thinking,” “Let the Value Flow,” “Empower the People,” “Stop starting, start finishing,” “Build Anti‑Fragile Capability,” “Develop on Cadence, Release on Demand,” and “Begin with the End in Mind.”

These IDCF values and principles are compared with Erikson’s coaching concepts, highlighting both overlaps and distinctions, and suggesting that underlying universal values can guide practice in complex, uncertain environments.