Great Teams Run on Thoughtful Defaults
It's the only way to navigate the chaos
DareData recently grew past 100 people.
Breaking the triple digit mark is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s a milestone to celebrate. We’ve grown, and we’ve created enough meaningful work for more than 100 people to contribute.
On the other hand, it’s harder to directly shape everyone’s experience at the company. There just isn’t enough time in the day to sit down with every single person anymore and guide their journey.
So we ran straight into the dreaded founder’s dilemma: how do you keep everyone aligned to our culture without turning into a control freak? How can we ensure our team embodies and passes on the values that create the great experience we want for everyone? The last thing we want (it’s just not our style and way of doing it) is the classic playbook where the founders dictate every move and the team just nods along.
There’s no magic formula to solve this (and we are still learning). But what helped us, though, is putting thoughtful defaults in writing and practicing them a lot. These defaults are the baseline principles the team can lean on, but they still leave space for experimentation.
What helped us was to give people solid defaults, but the freedom to adjust their parameters as they go, within certain boundaries. This has mostly two advantages:
Some defaults can be played with more than others. This lets the team act like humans, not robots.
When people are buried in work, the last thing they will be doing is agonizing over every tiny decision. These are the moments when good defaults are extremely valuable .
Thoughtful defaults are just as important when it comes to aligning with your business partners. I’ve lost count of the times when one tricky topic pops up, and before we’ve even exchanged a word, me and my partners are already making the exact same call. That just happens because we all know the company’s defaults.
In this post, I’ll walk through what thoughtful defaults really mean in practice, and how you can apply them to your own professional life.
What Are “Thoughtful Defaults”?
Thoughtful defaults are the pre-decided norms, habits, and assumptions that guide a team’s behavior. They’re the baseline expectations that don’t have to be debated every time.
Putting careful thought into these defaults up front is the key, and they must be connected to the vision and mission of the company. With them, leaders remove dozens of micro-decisions and uncertainties that would otherwise slow everyone. Instead of reinventing the wheel with each new project or dilemma, the team can fall back on a reliable playbook of default actions.
For example, consider our work culture. We have the following defaults in place:
People at DareData decide when, where, and how they work - as long as they stay committed to project deliveries and aligned with their role’s responsibilities. This is a default that everyone expects everyone to follow. For example, if someone is going to work from another country next week, that’s something that is accepted by default, as long as everyone in the project is informed and it doesn’t impact work deliverables.
In the consulting business of DareData, our team can also choose which projects to join based on the conditions offered, and clients are fully aware of this. For example, if a client requires daily in-person work, they understand it may reduce the number of DareData professionals interested in the role. We believe this is the best way to bring value to the clients, because the people that will join the project will be more motivated to put in the work. Flexibility also varies by position - managers, for instance, are expected to be more available during the day for meetings with customers, and they are aware of that when they join.
Last one: meetings are the exception; async communication is preferred for most tasks.
These are just three examples of thoughtful defaults we run at the company, when it comes to project work.
Another example, this time shared with the entire leadership - and this is a simple one: if we’re not adding value to the client, we probably shouldn’t be doing the project at all. This means our team is prepared to recognize when we’re not the right fit - such as when a project falls outside our usual scope or we - and we’re the first to acknowledge it and step aside. This has happened many times in DareData’s lifetime.
Why Defaults Matter for Great Teams
In a fast-growing team, defaults become essential guardrails. Without them, teams can get lost in decision paralysis or inconsistent approaches. People waste energy debating minor choices or hesitating on action because they’re unsure what’s acceptable.
Moreover, good defaults preserve team velocity and morale. They prevent the overload that comes from too many trivial decisions. Behavioral science tells us that having sensible defaults in place conserves our mental energy for the creative and complex challenges that really matter. And working in a field as demanding as AI, that kind of energy is invaluable.
Examples of Thoughtful Defaults in Action
Let’s consider some thoughtful defaults that you can think about for your team and company. These are not one-size-fits-all “rules,” but examples of guiding principles you can adapt:
Default to Action: Instead of endless planning or waiting for permission, the team’s bias is to do something to move forward. Momentum matters. If in doubt, make a draft, run an experiment, or launch a small pilot. This default combats paralysis and keeps learning loops turning fast.
Default to Transparency: Information is openly shared by default, rather than hoarded. It means decisions and their reasoning are documented where all can see, minimizing confusion and gossip. It also means that anyone can question any decision, anytime.
Default to “Yes, and” Attitude: This is a communication default. Instead of shooting down suggestions with a quick “no,” people say “yes, and…” to see where an idea could lead before judging it.).
Default to Personal Accountability: In a strong team, everyone owns their outcomes. The default response when something goes wrong is not finger-pointing; it’s “What can I do to help fix this?” or “Here’s what I’ll do differently next time.”
Each team might have its own unique defaults, reflecting its unique mission and values. The key is to be deliberate about them. If you don’t choose your defaults, they’ll choose themselves (and you may not like what you get). Every team has defaults whether they realize it or not.
Building Your Team’s Thoughtful Defaults
How can you establish thoughtful defaults in your own team or organization? It starts with introspection. Gather your leadership and your team and discuss: What do we want to be true by default in how we operate?
Identify a short list of behaviors or principles that support your mission and strategy. These should be practical and observable. “Innovate constantly” is hard to measure as a default, but something like “default to trying something small before saying no to new ideas” is actionable.
Once you’ve defined a few key defaults, communicate them explicitly and repeatedly. Weave them into your onboarding, your team meetings, your decision-making rubrics.
Expect that it will take time for new defaults to fully take hold – people don’t unlearn old habits overnight. Share stories of team members exemplifying the defaults (“shout-outs” in all-hands meetings or a simple slack message is a good way to do it).
Finally, be open to evolving your defaults as your team grows and the world changes. Thoughtful defaults aren’t static rules; they can be refined. What matters is that you continue to be thoughtful about them.
Conclusion: Guiding the Ship, Not Rowing Every Oar
As a leader, your job isn’t to row every oar. It’s to steer the ship and set the conditions for success. Thoughtful defaults are one of your most powerful tools to do that. You want to create an environment where everyone from executives to new interns can make good decisions instinctively. You provide clarity and consistency, which frees your team to be creative and proactive within a safe framework.
The beauty of running on thoughtful defaults is that it respects the intelligence and agency of your people. You’re not dictating every move; you’re empowering them with a strong shared compass. The responsibility for results is distributed, everyone becomes a leader in their own domain, aligned by common principles.