Principles are like rules:

you are either compliant or you are not. This gives rise to “bounded sets” of rule-followers and rule-enforcers rather than “centred sets” of people with shared values.2

Instead, I started thinking about properties:

qualities or characteristics of code rather than rules to follow.

Properties define a goal or centre to move towards. Your code is only closer to or further from the centre, and there is always a clear direction of travel.

.....

and then he gives a list of five properties that good architectures can aim for.