Epic's Ten Commandments
A one-page cultural constitution posted in every bathroom to keep 14,000 employees rowing in the same direction.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
Epic Systems distilled its entire operating philosophy into ten short commandments — covering everything from 'do not go public' to 'be frugal' — and physically posted them in every bathroom and break room on its Verona, Wisconsin campus, visible to employees and visiting hospital customers alike. Unlike typical corporate values statements built around mission and patients, Epic's commandments are almost entirely about how to run the business: protect independence, ship working software, keep every commitment, hire and promote on competency, and never take on debt. Because founder Judy Faulner rarely needs to personally enforce the first two commandments, posting them everywhere signals to employees and customers that Epic's independence and reliability are permanent, structural facts, not marketing claims.
Origin
Judy Faulner wrote the commandments to codify how she believed a software company should be run, then had them posted physically across Epic's campus so both employees and visiting customers would internalize them.
Core principles
- 01Do not go public
- 02Do not acquire or be acquired
- 03Software must work
- 04Reality equals expectations
- 05Keep commitments, even the unspoken ones
- 06Focus on competency; do not tolerate mediocrity
- 07Have standards; be fair to all
- 08Have courage; what you put up with is what you stand for
- 09Teach philosophy and culture
- 10Be frugal; do not take on debt for operations
How to run it
- 1
Draft non-negotiable identity rules
Write down the small number of structural commitments (e.g., ownership, capital structure) that must never change regardless of market pressure, and put a leader's name behind enforcing them.
Pro tip Limit these to things only the CEO/founder can actually authorize, so employees know they aren't decisions up for debate.
- 2
Add operating principles for daily work
Pair the identity rules with concrete operating commandments about quality, reliability, and commitments (e.g., 'software must work', 'keep commitments even the unspoken ones').
- 3
Post them physically everywhere
Place the commandments in high-traffic spaces employees and visiting customers see daily, such as bathrooms and break rooms, so they function as ambient reinforcement rather than a slide buried in an onboarding deck.
Watch out If leadership doesn't visibly live the commandments, this becomes performative decor instead of culture.
- 4
Let customers see them too
Make the commandments visible to visiting customers as an implicit promise — seeing 'do not go public' and 'do not acquire or be acquired' reassures buyers making decade-long platform commitments.
- 5
Enforce through hiring and promotion
Screen new hires and evaluate promotions against the same competency and standards language used in the commandments so the list stays connected to real decisions, not just wall art.
In the wild
When Kaiser Permanente asked both Epic and Cerner for warrants in exchange for the largest EHR contract of the era, Cerner agreed to give up 10% of its company. Judy refused for Epic, citing the precedent it would set with every other large customer.
→ Epic still won the Kaiser deal without giving up equity, reinforcing commandment two and its no-special-deals culture with future customers.
Common mistakes
Writing values nobody has to obey
Generic values statements ('we value integrity') don't function as commandments because they aren't specific enough to violate, so nobody notices when they're broken.
Hiding the rules in onboarding decks
If the commandments only appear once during orientation, they fade from daily behavior; physical, repeated visibility is what keeps them operative.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founder-led companies trying to preserve a specific operating philosophy at scale across thousands of employees.
Not ideal for
Early-stage startups still discovering their values through iteration, or companies with frequently rotating leadership.
From the transcript
“Number one do not go public. Number two do not acquire or be acquired.”
“Software must work. Number four, reality equals expectations. Number five, keep commitments, even the unspoken ones.”
“Have courage. What you put up with is what you stand for.”
From the episode
Epic Systems (MyChart)