Rules are everywhere. Few of us would wish to live in a world without them but we also know they can be both a blessing and a curse. Those early rules we learned as children—share, say you’re sorry or please and thank you, play fair—were offered to teach us important life lessons. In school we were taught to respect differences and take care of the environment. At work we need rules to conduct commerce, work with teams, and serve customers. On the highway rules help us navigate safely from one place to another. Without rules our lives and society in general would be quite chaotic.
On a recent vacation trip to Massachusetts we encountered two traffic rules that aren’t regularly part of our daily lives. One was the use of roundabouts instead of traffic lights. Designed to keep traffic moving, the rules of a roundabout require each car entering the circle to yield to those already there. If everyone acts with respect the system can keep traffic flowing very efficiently. The other rule involved yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks. I will admit to some measure of fear when I stepped off the curb in the face of oncoming traffic. Fortunately those drivers obeyed the rules and I arrived unscathed on the other side of the street.
Of course, we know rules are also frequently broken. Our laws don’t prevent criminal behavior. Generally accepted business practices haven’t eliminated fraud. Social norms are regularly abandoned to serve one’s own selfish purposes. Everyone, young and old, has broken the very rules we know make us safe or keep us healthy. Breaking rules generally have consequences and that helps keep some of us from straying too far. For others it only serves to spoil their fun.
As organizations prosper, their list of rules tends to grow as well, sometimes becoming an impediment to creativity and innovation. Think about a recent unpleasant customer service experience. Chances are some company policy or internal rule prevented the employee from actually addressing your concern and making you happy. When rules get in the way of common sense everyone suffers.
It’s tempting to create rules so our internal processes work better. But if these rules are never challenged, and perhaps eliminated, those very processes may impede us from serving others well. How many times have you complained about a government rule or regulation? If every bureaucrat was required to get rid of at least one existing rule each time they created a new one I wonder what might happen? Or suppose those same officials were expected to live and work under the rules they were creating? Would they still enact mindless legislation so they have work to do enforcing their new rules?
If you could change the rules in your workplace what would fail to make the cut? How many of those rules are preventing your organization from responding to the dynamic and difficult business environment we are facing? If you asked your customers what rules they despise would you be surprised by their answer?
It’s time to review the rules we take for granted or enforce without any thought of their impact. While some rules must always remain for a society to survive, many of us long for less regulation in our lives. Perhaps it’s time for a candid common sense conversation about the rules in your business. Are you willing to get it started or do you have a rule against that?
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