Ethics
Principles matter most when following them is inconvenient. This standard defines the behaviour the House intends to require as it grows.
Integrity before advantage
The House should not obtain work, access, influence or commercial advantage through bribery, deception, fabricated evidence or concealed conflicts. A result that depends on hiding how it was obtained is not a House result.
Conflicts of interest
Personal relationships, investments, gifts or outside roles that could affect a House decision should be disclosed to the person responsible for that decision before commitment. Disclosure does not automatically prohibit the activity; concealment is the greater risk.
Gifts and hospitality
Gifts, travel or hospitality should never be offered or accepted when they are intended to improperly influence a decision or could reasonably appear to do so. Monetary thresholds and approval rules should be introduced when the House begins operating with employees, agents and suppliers.
Truth in public claims
Marketing, heritage, environmental, product and cultural claims should be supportable. The House may create fiction as art, but not disguise fiction as evidence.
Respect and non-retaliation
People should be able to raise concerns about safety, harassment, fraud, rights, sourcing or public claims without retaliation for a good-faith report. A formal confidential speak-up route should be introduced before the organisation reaches a scale where informal founder-level reporting is no longer adequate.
Record of decisions
Material exceptions to House standards should be documented with who approved them, why and for how long. Standards that exist only when convenient are decoration, not governance.