Make goals, not rules

Make goals, not rules.

That simple leadership axiom has incredible depth.

Several years ago, in deference to my aging knees, I took up bicycling for fun and exercise. I enjoy getting my fat butt on a bike a few times a week to sweat and think. In fact, this article germinated in my mind while riding this weekend.

There is a neighborhood in a nearby town that I ride through fairly often. It is a typical suburban crosshatch street pattern. With a few exceptions, there are not any stop signs at the intersections. When coming to the intersection, I must slow down, look both ways, assess the risk of proceeding, and then move through if safe.

As a vulnerable cyclist, I feel much safer at the intersections without stop signs than I do at the intersections with them. Why?

In the sign-less intersections, everyone is incented to actively assess the likelihood of danger and come to a mutual agreement before proceeding. This often includes making eye contact, a nod, a hand gesture, a smile… there is an unspoken agreement to which all parties assent before anyone proceeds. Such ad hoc non-verbal agreements are in everyone’s self-interest.

The intersections with stop signs seem like they would be safer, but they are not. In those intersections, the stop signs take the place of mutual agreements by ascribing the required behavior and order of progression. As drivers suspend their brains in deference to the stop sign, they often will not properly assess the intersection and will proceed by rote. The stop sign absolves them of the need to think. This works well when everything goes as prescribed, but not when the abnormal happens. How many fender-benders occur when a driver proceeds into an intersection because “it’s my turn?” These thought-free accidents take on a different importance when the other vehicle is a bicycle.

When those fender-benders happen, the driver might, with justification, utter the phrase, “at least it wasn’t my fault. I followed the rules.” This reveals one of the purposes of stop signs. They are not about safety. They are about the assignation of responsibility, or blame, when an accident occurs. In a litigious and insured society, this is important. Someone must pay for the damage to property and person and the assignation of responsibility determines who must pay.

By contrast, if there is an accident in a sign-less intersection, assigning responsibility is more difficult. It requires the authorities to go into the actual minds, expectations, and behaviors of those involved. Did someone enter the intersection carelessly? Was there a clear non-verbal agreement that someone violated? Did a driver give conflicting signals? The presence of a stop sign certainly makes determining fault much easier.

But is it better? If the goal is to minimize accidents and maximize safety, the assignation of responsibility does not contribute to that goal. It is merely cleaning up the mess already made. The goal was missed when the accident occurred. Human behavior is such that people are more willing to engage in reckless, thoughtless, and even dangerous behavior as long as they can’t be blamed for the consequences because they were “following the rules.”

People work the same way they drive.

If they are following the rules and can’t be blamed for failing, then they will turn off their brains and keep it between the lines. As a leader, if you focus on the rules, you will have a team of people who follow the rules who may, or may not, achieve the goals. You will have the best-behaved failures in the business.

By focusing on the goals, people are held accountable to achieving the goal instead of following the rules. When people are focused on goals instead of rules, they are forced to keep their brains turned on to find the best path forward. When interacting with their colleagues, vendors, prospects, and customers, they will keep their attention on how to best negotiate the interaction to achieve the goal instead of accepting failure if they followed ascribed process. Much like the sign-less intersection, when the rules are undefined, but the goal is certain, people will find a way to get to the goal.

Now, of course there is a need and purpose for rules, but far too often, we create unnecessary rules for the purpose of conformity and ease of management. The result is that we end up with a very conforming and easy to manage team that doesn’t accomplish much. By putting the focus on goals – while adhering to the rules that are necessary – we create a team that is all striving to find a way to succeed.

We hit where we aim. If we aim to follow rules, the rules will be followed. If we aim at goals, we will hit them. ?