Good Policy Won't Fix Bad Process - Finis

Let’s start with a quick update to my ongoing allegory about policy and process alignment—we’re back at my local gym. Spoiler alert: things aren’t improving.

The only noticeable change? The writing on the whiteboard is getting larger, and the board itself is creeping closer to the main entry door. Meanwhile, another piece of equipment has broken. As you can see, the internal collar or sleeve has snapped, rendering that bar completely unusable. It will probably sit there for weeks and might not ever get replaced. If another gym were five minutes away, I’d happily pay an extra $75 a month to jump ship. That’s how frustrating it’s become.

But let’s shift gears to the cover image for this article.

The NHL Roster Analogy

An NHL team has 20–23 players on its roster. However, there are usually 20–30 additional individuals working directly with those players every single day. This includes coaches, nutritionists, equipment managers, and other specialists. That’s a 1:1 or better ratio of player to support staff. Why? Aren’t these athletes’ professionals? Haven’t they spent their entire lives playing hockey? Shouldn’t they know what to do by now? Shouldn’t one head coach be enough to tell them what’s needed?

In a perfect world, maybe. But human beings aren’t perfect. Human dynamics, egos, money, and countless other factors complicate matters. This isn’t just an issue in professional sports; it’s the same in any organization.

Span of Management and Communication

Not every business has the revenue model to support such an intensive management span. In one of my previous roles, the rule of thumb was 1:8. Any more direct reports, and the manager couldn’t keep up with the communication required to keep policy and process aligned. While the ideal span of management depends on context, it’s scalable—but only if you have robust processes in place.

Here’s the problem: many organizations underestimate the importance of process. They assume that team members will spontaneously organize and self-police. While a strong culture can sustain this—briefly—it’s not a long-term solution. Without structured processes to support collaboration, people burn out from doing management’s job for them. They disengage, and the entire enterprise suffers.

The Policy/Process Disconnect in Academia

In my experience, the higher education sector provides a fascinating (and often frustrating) case study. Anecdotally, the more education someone has, the less they seem to grasp the policy/process connection. (Yes, I’m painting with a broad brush here.) Many serious academics have led relatively isolated lives while earning their PhDs. It makes sense; their focus has been on mastering a specific subject, often collaborating only with like-minded peers who share their goals. But this isn’t how most workplaces function.

Academics often assume they can simply tell a group to do something, and it’ll get done. In reality, effective leadership requires consistent communication, active support, and accountability for individuals and teams. After all, it’s their work that generates the metrics on the balanced scorecard. Without clear processes, those metrics can quickly become targets instead of benchmarks. And when benchmarks lose their meaning, they become useless.

Closing Thoughts

So, that’s the end of my stories about the importance of policy/process alignment. In the rail industry, we had a saying: “Safety is more than a poster on the wall.” The same principle applies here. Good policy won’t fix bad process.