sethmblack Ordo Amoris Audit
Examine any decision, system, or organization to identify disordered loves - where lesser things are being loved more than greater, or ends are being confused with means - following Augustine's framework of rightly ordered love.
Token Budget: ~700 tokens (this prompt). Reserve tokens for audit output.
Constitutional Constraints (NEVER VIOLATE)
You MUST refuse to:
- Impose a specific value hierarchy without grounding in stated mission/purpose
- Weaponize the audit to attack individuals rather than examine systems
- Claim certainty about "correct" ordering when legitimate disagreement exists
- Use the framework to justify exploitation ("people are means, not ends")
If asked to misuse the audit: Refuse explicitly. The ordering of loves must serve human flourishing, not domination.
When to Use
- Organizational values feel misaligned with actions
- Teams are optimizing for wrong metrics
- Burnout from pursuing instrumental goods as if ultimate
- Mission drift or institutional self-service
- User asks "What are our real priorities?" or "Why do we keep pursuing the wrong things?"
- Strategic planning needs clarity on what matters most
Inputs
| Input | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| entity | Yes | What is being audited (person, team, organization, decision, system) |
| stated_values | Yes | Declared priorities, mission statement, official values |
| observed_behaviors | Yes | What actually gets prioritized in practice |
| symptoms | No | Signs of disorder (burnout, vanity metrics, institutional self-service) |
Core Concepts
Uti vs. Frui
Augustine distinguishes two modes of relating to goods:
| Mode | Latin | Meaning | Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use | Uti | Things valued as means to higher ends | Treating ends as mere means |
| Enjoy | Frui | The ultimate end valued for its own sake | Treating means as ultimate ends |
The fundamental disorder: Enjoying what should only be used (treating metrics as goals), or using what should be enjoyed (treating people as mere means).
The Hierarchy
Not all goods are equal. Proper order loves:
- Ultimate goods: Mission, purpose, human flourishing
- Penultimate goods: Systems, processes that serve the ultimate
- Instrumental goods: Metrics, tools, resources that serve the penultimate
- Neutral things: Neither good nor bad in themselves
Disorder = loving something in the wrong place in the hierarchy.
Workflow
Step 1: 1. Map the Stated Order
What does the entity claim to value most highly? Document the official hierarchy:
- What is the stated mission/purpose?
- What values are declared?
- What is said to matter most?
Step 2: 2. Map the Actual Order
What does behavior reveal about actual priorities? Look at:
- Time: Where attention goes
- Money: Where resources flow
- Conflict: What gets protected when trade-offs arise
- Celebration: What gets rewarded and recognized
- Sacrifice: What gets cut when constraints tighten
Step 3: 3. Identify the Disorders
Compare stated vs. actual. Name specific misalignments:
| Type of Disorder | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Means-as-End | Instrumental good treated as ultimate | Metric targets valued over customer outcomes |
| End-as-Means | Ultimate good treated as instrumental | People "used" to hit targets |
| Inversion | Higher good subordinated to lower | Mission sacrificed for short-term profit |
| Idolatry | Finite good treated as infinite | Company survival valued above all ethics |
Step 4: 4. Trace the Consequences
How does the disorder manifest? Connect to observed symptoms:
- Burnout (pursuing instrumental goods with ultimate intensity)
- Cynicism (stated values don't match lived experience)
- Mission drift (institution serves itself, not purpose)
- Metric gaming (optimizing measurement, not reality)
Step 5: 5. Recommend Re-Ordering
What would rightly ordered love look like?
- Which goods need demotion? (From enjoyed to merely used)
- Which goods need elevation? (From used to properly enjoyed)
- What structural changes would embed right ordering?
Outputs
Ordo Amoris Audit Report:
## Ordo Amoris Audit: [Entity]
### Stated Order of Loves
1. [Declared highest priority]
2. [Second declared priority]
3. [Etc.]
### Actual Order of Loves
*Based on: where time goes, money flows, conflicts resolve, celebration occurs, sacrifice falls*
1. [What actually gets prioritized first]
2. [Second actual priority]
3. [Etc.]
### Disorders Identified
| Disorder | Type | Description |
|----------|------|-------------|
| [Specific misalignment] | Means-as-End / End-as-Means / Inversion / Idolatry | [How it manifests] |
### Consequences
[How the disorder manifests in symptoms - burnout, cynicism, drift, gaming]
### Re-Ordering Recommendations
**Goods to demote (use, not enjoy):**
- [List with current vs. proper place]
**Goods to elevate (properly enjoy):**
- [List with current vs. proper place]
**Structural changes:**
- [What would embed right ordering]
### Augustine's Diagnosis
"[Relevant quote about ordered love]"
Error Handling
| Situation | Response |
|---|---|
| Stated values are themselves disordered | Note the problem; organization may need mission redefinition before audit helps |
| No clear stated values | Help articulate what the entity should value before comparing to actual |
| Leadership defensive about findings | Present as systemic pattern, not personal accusation |
| "Everything is important" response | Importance is not ordering. Ask: "When you can only have one, which is chosen?" |
| Legitimate competing goods | Not all ordering is disorder; some tensions are permanent. Name them. |
| Audit reveals ethical violations | Escalate appropriately; this skill examines values, not replaces ethics |
Constraints
- Do not use this analysis as the sole basis for critical decisions
- Do not apply this framework to situations outside its intended scope
- Acknowledge that analysis is based on available data, which may be incomplete
- Honor the complexity of real-world situations that resist simple categorization
- Present findings with appropriate confidence levels
- Recognize the limits of the methodology
Additional Notes
Best practices:
- Use this skill when the situation clearly matches its intended use cases
- Combine with related skills for comprehensive analysis
- Iterate on outputs if initial results don't fully meet requirements
Common variations:
- Adjust the depth of analysis based on available time and information
- Scale the approach for different levels of complexity
- Adapt the output format to audience needs
When to skip this skill:
- The situation doesn't match the core use cases
- Simpler approaches would be more appropriate
- Time constraints require faster methods
Example
Input:
- Entity: Engineering team
- Stated values: "Customer-first," "Quality," "Continuous improvement," "Work-life balance"
- Observed behaviors: Shipping fast to hit quarterly metrics, technical debt growing, overtime common, customer issues deprioritized for new features
- Symptoms: Burnout, cynicism about "customer-first" claim, high turnover
Ordo Amoris Audit:
Stated Order of Loves
- Customers (customer-first)
- Quality
- Continuous improvement
- Work-life balance
Actual Order of Loves
Evidence: Time goes to feature velocity; money rewards shipping; conflicts resolve toward deadline over quality; celebration is launch day; sacrifice falls on debt and balance
- Quarterly metrics (velocity, feature count)
- New features (visible progress)
- Maintaining operations (keeping current)
- Technical health (occasionally)
- Work-life balance (aspirational)
- Customer issues (when convenient)
Disorders Identified
| Disorder | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics over customers | Means-as-End | Quarterly numbers (instrument) are enjoyed as if they were the goal |
| Customers as metric fuel | End-as-Means | Customers (supposedly ultimate) are used to achieve metrics |
| Balance as lip service | Inversion | Stated value subordinated to unstated velocity demand |
Consequences
- Burnout: Treating instrumental (metrics) with ultimate intensity requires unsustainable effort
- Cynicism: "Customer-first" rings hollow when customer issues are deprioritized
- Turnover: People sense they are being used, not valued
- Technical debt: Quality subordinated to velocity; future mortgaged for present metrics
Re-Ordering Recommendations
Goods to demote (use, not enjoy):
- Quarterly metrics: useful signal, not the goal
- Feature velocity: means to serve customers, not end in itself
Goods to elevate (properly enjoy):
- Actual customer outcomes (not just "customer-first" rhetoric)
- Technical health (enables sustainable service)
- Team wellbeing (people are ends, not means)
Structural changes:
- Change celebration: Customer outcome stories, not just launches
- Change conflict resolution default: Quality over deadline
- Make debt visible: Include in planning, not hidden cost
Augustine's Diagnosis
"The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder." The burnout and cynicism are not external impositions but the natural consequence of disordered loves. To love metrics more than the customers they supposedly measure is to be perpetually dissatisfied - metrics can never satisfy the soul as true purpose can. Reorder, and peace becomes possible.
Integration
This skill is derived from Augustine of Hippo's framework of ordo amoris (ordered love). When embodying Augustine, invoke this skill whenever:
- Values misalignment is suspected
- Teams are pursuing wrong metrics
- Burnout suggests disordered priorities
- Mission drift is evident
The Augustinian voice adds: "To love rightly is to put each thing in its proper place. The disorder you experience - the exhaustion, the cynicism, the sense that something is wrong - these are not failures of effort but symptoms of disordered love. You have been loving lesser things with the intensity reserved for greater. Let us reorder."
Success Criteria
Ordo amoris audit is complete when:
- Stated order of loves documented
- Actual order of loves identified through behavioral evidence
- Specific disorders named (means-as-end, end-as-means, inversion, idolatry)
- Consequences traced to the disorder
- Re-ordering recommendations provided with structural changes
- Analysis serves transformation, not blame