The Problems with Rules
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The following is a short book preview contributed by the Ohio State University Leadership Center.
From:How: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything…
in Business (and in Life)by Dov Seidman
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey (2007)- Rules are external – They are made by others. They present us with a puzzle to be solved and loopholes to be found.
- We are ambivalent about rules – We know we need some and we want others to play by them, but we say, ‘Rules are meant to be broken.’
- Rules are reactive – They respond to past events.
- Rules and bother over- and under-inclusive – Because they are proxies, they cannot be precise.
- Proliferation of rules is a tax on the system – Few people can remember them all. We lose productivity when we stop to look them up.
- Rules are typically prohibitions – They speak to can and can’t. We view them as confining and restricting.
- Rules require enforcement – With laxity, they lose credibility and effectiveness. They necessitate expensive bureaucracies of compliance.
- Rules speak to boundaries and floors but create inadvertent ceilings – We can’t legislate ‘The sky’s the limit.’
- The only way to honor rules is to obey them exactly – They speak to coercion and motivation. The inspiration to excel must come from somewhere else.
- Too many rules breeds overreliance – We think, ‘if it mattered, they would have made a rule.’ (Seidman, 2007, p. 90).
How: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center. To borrow this resource or any other resource, please go to the resource search page.
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The OSU Leadership Center is home to a wealth of resources to help you and the people you work with improve your leadership and interpersonal skills. Please check the materials in our Lending Library (available to you for a small annual fee), Leadership Publications (absolutely free), and links to other leadership-related information.
Rules are external
They are made by others. They present us with a puzzle to be solved and loopholes to be found.
We are ambivalent about rules
We know we need some and we want others to play by them, but we say, ‘Rules are meant to be broken.’
Rules are reactive
They respond to past events.
Rules and bother over- and under-inclusive
Because they are proxies, they cannot be precise.
Proliferation of rules is a tax on the system
Few people can remember them all. We lose productivity when we stop to look them up.
Rules are typically prohibitions
They speak to can and can’t. We view them as confining and restricting.
Rules require enforcement
With laxity, they lose credibility and effectiveness. They necessitate expensive bureaucracies of compliance.
Rules speak to boundaries and floors but create inadvertent ceilings
We can’t legislate ‘The sky’s the limit.’
The only way to honor rules is to obey them exactly
They speak to coercion and motivation. The inspiration to excel must come from somewhere else.
Too many rules breeds overreliance
We think, ‘if it mattered, they would have made a rule.’ (Seidman, 2007, p. 90).
How: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything is available
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