Today I want to talk to you about one of the very important characteristics of high commitment cultures, and that is that high commitment cultures manage by guidelines. They lead by establishing guidelines and principles, as opposed to traditional workplaces that have a rule for everything. See, managing by rules is very easy, but it's not very effective. If you have a rule book about that thick, you can get anybody to look at a situation, go to the book and say, well, in this situation, this is what we need to do. Now, some people prefer it that way because they say, well, you know what? We're going to be consistent because we're going to do the same thing in every situation. However, I would argue that doing the same thing in every situation may not be the right thing to do. You want to be consistent with your principles, but not necessarily apply the same rule everywhere. The other disadvantage of having a rule for everything is that ultimately those rules and policies are established based on the very few who abuse them. We have policies and organizations that have been established because one or two people abused this particular guideline. Now, nobody can do this because two people did that. And just about every organization that I've ever worked in we never have a time card. So does that mean that everybody comes and goes as they please? No, we establish standards, we establish principles and we operate by those principles. But bottom line is that we're not going to assume that everybody's a criminal and everybody's out to do the wrong thing. We assume that 95% of the people or more want to do the right thing. We establish our guidelines and standards for them. And then we deal with any sort of deviation that we might have. Now, is it wrong to have rules? No. In some cases, you should have rules. Look, there ought to be a rule for safety that you are not ever going to stick your hand in a piece of equipment that's running. There ought to be rules about how we do our documentation relative to things that are required by the government. We ought to be able to produce our quality results and so on and so forth. So yes, there are few occasions where it makes sense to establish rules and abide by them. But by far, in most cases, what you can do is establish guidelines and manage by those guidelines. One of the downsides of managing by rules is that we treat people like children. Like they cannot make good decisions for themselves. So we say, you know what? You cannot wear this kind of clothes. You cannot do this. You cannot use your phone here and things like that. Very early in my career as I worked for Procter & Gamble, we always talked about the adult business deal, meaning that people are adults. They come to work, you know, outside of work, they can handle all kinds of adversity. They can handle different things that need to happen in their life and they can handle that at work. However, in some workplaces, we treat people like children, like they don't have the capacity to make certain decisions. And by the same token, we tend to protect them from bad news as if they're little kids. I know from my own experience, I have two kids who are adults right now and we work together and we operate on an adult business deal because they are no longer children. But I also remember a time when they were little and we had to establish some rules for them. We had several guidelines for them because we knew that they were incapable of making decisions for themselves. At that point, they didn't have a whole lot of authority, but you know what? They didn't have a lot of responsibility either. When they became teenagers, they began to take on more responsibility and we gave them the authority that came with that. In some organizations, leaders refused to work with everybody else as if they are at least in their adolescent years. You see, sometimes people want the authority, but they don't want to take the responsibility. And sometimes leaders want to give them the responsibility, but withhold the authority. That doesn't work. So just like in the teenage years, you ought to give them a balance of responsibilities and authority. Now, when our children became adults, then at that point we really switched over to adult business deal. We're not going to treat them as if they cannot make decisions for themselves. Well, the same thing needs to happen in every organization because you know what? Everybody that works for you is an adult. They are capable of managing within guidelines. So my encouragement to you is to evaluate your policies and your procedures and all the rules that you have in place and slash some of them, eliminate some, and send a very clear signal to your organization that you are willing to trust them. Let them know what their responsibilities are. Let them know what their accountabilities are. But by all means, give them the authority to make the decisions that they can make because they do not need to be micromanaged. And if you turn them loose and they feel trusted, they will rise to the occasion and make things happen.

I believe one of the defining characteristics of a high-commitment culture is managing by guidelines and principles rather than creating a rule for everything. Managing by rules is easy, but it isn't necessarily effective. Rules often emerge because one or two people abused a guideline, and then the entire organization gets treated as though everyone is going to do the wrong thing. I would rather establish clear standards and principles, assume that most people want to do the right thing, and deal directly with the exceptions when they occur. There are certainly situations where rules are necessary, particularly around safety, regulatory requirements, documentation, and quality. But those should be the exception, not the operating philosophy.

When we create a rule for every situation, we are essentially treating adults like children. Early in my career at Procter & Gamble, we talked about the “adult business deal.” Adults are capable of making decisions, handling adversity, and operating within reasonable boundaries. I think the same principle applies in the workplace. I use the analogy of raising children: when they are young, they need more rules because they don't yet have the experience or judgment to make certain decisions. As they mature, they take on more responsibility, and they should receive the authority necessary to go with it. The workplace should work the same way.

The problem I see in many organizations is an imbalance between authority and responsibility. Sometimes people want the authority without accepting the responsibility. Other times, leaders expect people to take responsibility while withholding the authority they need to act. Neither works. If we expect people to be accountable for outcomes, we need to give them appropriate decision-making authority. Otherwise, we create dependence, frustration, and micromanagement. A high-commitment culture says, “Here are your responsibilities. Here are your accountabilities. And here is the authority you have to make decisions.”

My encouragement to leaders is simple: look at your policies, procedures, and rules and start eliminating the ones you don't really need. Every rule we remove can send a powerful signal that we trust people to think and make good decisions. That doesn't mean turning people loose without boundaries. It means giving them clear principles, expectations, and accountability while allowing them to exercise judgment. When people feel trusted, they often rise to the occasion. Trust isn't just something we give people after they've proven themselves. Sometimes trust is what allows them to become the people we need them to be.

Key Points

High-commitment cultures manage by guidelines and principles, not an endless collection of rules.
Consistency should mean being consistent with our principles, not necessarily doing the exact same thing in every situation.
Many organizational rules exist because a small number of people abused the freedom given to everyone else.
Leaders should generally assume that most people want to do the right thing.
Rules still have an important place when dealing with safety, regulatory requirements, documentation, and quality.
Excessive rules can communicate that we don't trust people to make good decisions.
Treating adults like children creates a culture of dependence and micromanagement.
Leaders should evaluate their policies and eliminate rules that aren't genuinely necessary.
A high-commitment culture doesn't mean having no boundaries. It means using principles and judgment instead of controlling every decision.

Quotes

“Managing by rules is very easy, but it's not very effective.”
“We establish our guidelines and standards for the people who want to do the right thing.”
“One of the downsides of managing by rules is that we treat people like children.”
“Everybody that works for you is an adult.”
“Sometimes leaders want to give people the responsibility, but withhold the authority. That doesn't work.”
“If you expect accountability, give people the authority to make the decisions they can make.”
“If you turn them loose and they feel trusted, they will rise to the occasion and make things happen.”