Bill Wilder Learning is Change

Rules or Principles

March 13, 2014
Do your policies promote blind obedience or creative contemplation?

In my last blog we discussed the fact that an Asset Management Policy is a set of principles that must be communicated by leadership and supervision repeatedly through various vehicles.

What is a principle? I will share the words of a well-known authority on human behavior and motivating people to change their behavior – Roy H. Williams. Roy created the Wizard Academy, a school for the imaginative, the courageous and the ambitious.

Roy tells us, “We resist rigid rules and rely instead on universal principles.

"Laid side-by-side, a stick and a rope have a similar profile. Likewise, rules and principles look alike even though they have little in common.

"Rules are like sticks. You can prod people with them. You can threaten people with them. You can beat people with them. But you cannot lead people with them. When a rule doesn't fit the circumstance, your only choice is to break it.

"Principles are like rope, able to be wrapped around even the most weirdly shaped problems. They are less brittle than rules, and stronger. Principles whisper priceless advice and people are happily led by them.

"A rule requires obedience.

"A principle requires contemplation.”

Will your policy promote blind obedience or creative contemplation?

About the Author

Bill Wilder | Founder and Director

Bill Wilder, MEd, is the founder and director of the Life Cycle Institute, the learning, leadership and change management practice at Life Cycle Engineering (www.LCE.com). The Institute integrates the science of learning and the science of change management to help organizations produce results through behavior change.

Bill led the creation of the 3A learning process that incorporates the concepts of active learning and change management. He has worked with many organizations to develop learning and change management solutions that engage people and drive accountability for behavior changes that deliver results.

Bill is a certified Prosci Change Management professional and is one of the few Prosci Authorized Training Provider Certified instructors in the world. He is the author of several articles, white papers and videos on the topics of learning and change management.

Sponsored Recommendations

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!