In the 1940’s, a piece of federal legislation averaged two pages in length. The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is 828 pages by itself. Inevitably, every promulgated rule exposes exceptions that are not anticipated by those drafting it. In the past, these exceptions were typically dealt with by allowing those enforcing the law to simply allow for the exception or respond to it based on what would be best for both the greater good and the party involved.
Somewhere along the line, legislators developed the belief every contingency needs to be spelled out in excruciating detail, as if that’s even possible. The result has been reams of text which, in many cases conflict with existing rules and regulations. This, of course, feeds on itself resulting increasingly specific regulation. The complete regulations for the Affordable Care Act, for instance, have yet to be issued more than five years its after passage. Yet voters and employers will be held liable violating its tenets retroactively once those regulations have been issued. (This has already resulted in additional regulations to address these unintended consequences.) Is it any wonder that the majority of Americans view government as well-meaning bumblers?
Some argue that this approach to drafting legislation has been taken to protect to those elected, fearful of offending any constituency, from taking responsibility. There is ample evidence to support this. I would argue that while this may be true, it is also the result of our passivity as voters in failing to play a more active role in how we’re governed. Let’s not let them get away with it!
But here’s a more personal question . . . How many policies and rules do you and your organization put in place for situations that would be better resolved through simple discussion and reason? What impact this have on the decision making of those within the firm? More to the point, how much does it cost you in lost productivity and employee morale? After all, the more the rules, the less the reason. The less the reason, the less the trust. What can you do to discourage this maddening trend?