​

DNA Maturity Levels (1–5)

​

Level 1: Chaos

​

Characteristics

• No shared rules. Every decision is a debate.
• No documentation. Everything is verbal.
• Inconsistent patterns. Everyone does things differently.
• High founder involvement. Every decision escalates.

​

What It Looks Like

• “Should this button be primary or secondary?” → 30-minute discussion
• “How do we write error messages?” → No one knows
• “What’s our pricing strategy?” → Founder decides case-by-case
• New hires: “How do we do X?” → “Ask around”

​

Why Companies Stay Here

• Too early. Pre-product-market fit, everything changes daily.
• Too busy. “We’ll document later” (spoiler: they won’t).
• Anti-process. “Documentation kills creativity.”

​

Problems at This Level

• Slow decisions (everything requires discussion)
• Inconsistent output (no shared standards)
• Knowledge loss (when someone leaves, patterns leave)
• Scaling impossibility (can’t grow past 10-15 people)

​

Signals You’re Here

• ❌ No written rules
• ❌ Repeated debates on same questions
• ❌ “That’s not how we do it” without documentation
• ❌ Onboarding takes weeks

​

Level 2: Tribal

​

Characteristics

• Rules exist in people’s heads. Implicit patterns emerge.
• Tribal knowledge. “Just ask Sarah, she knows.”
• Works through osmosis. New people pick it up over time.
• Fragile. When Sarah leaves, knowledge leaves.

​

What It Looks Like

• Patterns exist: “We usually do it this way”
• But unwritten: Nothing documented
• Enforced socially: “That’s not how we do things here”
• Knowledge transfer: Shadowing, Slack DMs, tribal learning

​

Why Companies Stay Here

• Feels efficient. “Everyone knows how things work.”
• Low overhead. No docs to maintain.
• Comfortable. Works as long as team is stable.

​

Problems at This Level

• Knowledge siloing (locked in specific people)
• Turnover devastation (departures create knowledge gaps)
• Inconsistency at scale (tribal knowledge doesn’t transfer)
• Slow onboarding (new hires learn through trial and error)

​

Signals You’re Here

• ✅ Consistent patterns exist
• ❌ Not written down
• ❌ Depends on specific people
• ❌ New hires confused for months

​

Level 3: Documented

​

Characteristics

• Rules are written down. Wiki, Notion, Google Docs.
• But disconnected. Isolated documents, not a system.
• Rarely referenced. Docs exist but aren’t used.
• Quickly outdated. Written once, never updated.

​

What It Looks Like

• “Check the wiki” (but nobody does)
• Docs cover some areas, not others
• No clear structure (scattered across tools)
• Writing docs feels like busywork

​

Why Companies Stay Here

• Documentation theater. Feels productive to write docs.
• No adoption. Team doesn’t use what’s written.
• Maintenance burden. Docs decay immediately.

​

Problems at This Level

• Docs diverge from reality (outdated quickly)
• Low usage (team ignores documentation)
• Discovery problem (can’t find relevant docs)
• Still requires tribal knowledge (docs don’t cover real scenarios)

​

Signals You’re Here

• ✅ Documentation exists
• ❌ Nobody reads it
• ❌ Not connected to daily work
• ❌ Feels like compliance, not tool

​

Level 4: Systematic

​

Characteristics

• DNA is live, connected, and referenced daily.
• Genes shape decisions. “Check the gene, apply the rule.”
• Strands are well-defined. Clear structure.
• Sequences documented. Workflows are explicit.

​

What It Looks Like

• Designer: “Should this be a modal?” → Checks UX.Navigation gene → Decision made in 30 seconds
• Engineer: “What API format?” → Checks Tech.APIFormat gene → Implements correctly
• New hire: “How do we hire?” → Reads Team strand → Understands process
• Quarterly review: DNA is updated, versioned, communicated

​

Why Companies Get Here

• Intentional investment. Leadership commits to building DNA.
• Team adoption. DNA becomes part of daily workflow.
• Maintenance culture. DNA is kept current.

​

Benefits at This Level

• Fast decisions (genes eliminate debate)
• Consistency (everyone follows same rules)
• Scalable onboarding (DNA is the training system)
• Visible dependencies (sequences show connections)
• Intentional evolution (changes are versioned)

​

Signals You’re Here

• ✅ DNA referenced in daily work
• ✅ New hires read DNA first
• ✅ Genes answer 80% of questions
• ✅ Quarterly reviews happen
• ✅ Sequences prevent silo problems

​

Level 5: Evolved

​

Characteristics

• DNA shapes decisions automatically.
• Alignment is structural, not aspirational.
• AI integrated. AI agents read and apply DNA.
• Self-maintaining. Team updates DNA as part of work.
• Culture = encoded genes. Values manifest as rules.

​

What It Looks Like

• Decisions happen without DNA lookup (internalized)
• AI tools reference DNA (Cursor reads Tech genes, applies patterns)
• Pull request reviewers check DNA compliance automatically
• New features designed DNA-first (check constraints before building)
• Pivots planned as DNA migrations (versioned, intentional)

​

Why Few Companies Get Here

• Requires Level 4 maturity first. Can’t skip steps.
• Needs tool integration. AI + automation.
• Demands maintenance discipline. DNA must stay current.

​

Benefits at This Level

• Near-zero decision overhead (rules are internalized)
• Perfect consistency (AI enforces patterns)
• Instant onboarding (AI guides new hires through DNA)
• Pivot capability (DNA rewriting is a known process)
• Company = legible system (fully documented, AI-readable)

​

Signals You’re Here

• ✅ AI reads and applies your DNA
• ✅ DNA internalized by team (automatic reference)
• ✅ Genes updated continuously (part of workflow)
• ✅ Zero fragmentation (structural alignment)
• ✅ New hires productive in days, not months

​

Maturity Assessment

​

Where is your company?

​

Maturity Progression

Level 1 → Level 2: Patterns emerge organically (6-12 months)
Level 2 → Level 3: Extract and document patterns (1-2 months)
Level 3 → Level 4: Make DNA live and active (3-6 months)
Level 4 → Level 5: Internalize and automate (6-12 months)

​

What Level Should You Target?

​

Level 4 is the goal for most companies

​

Common Failure Modes

​

Skipping to Level 3 Without Level 2

​

Staying at Level 3

​

Building Level 4 DNA But Not Maintaining It

​

The Level 4 Threshold

• Decisions are slow
• Alignment is fragile
• Scaling is hard

• Decisions are fast
• Alignment is structural
• Scaling is possible

​

Next Steps