I submitted a document for approval up my chain of command for one of my staff to assume a new operational role. The policy stated that the approval had to come from the division head level.
Shortly after, I received a call from the next level in my chain.
“Hey Jeremy, saw your EC. We don’t have to submit all the way up anymore. I can just approve it via email.”
As I hung up, I felt confused and conflicted. The policy clearly stated that approval was required from the top via EC. I didn’t understand why I was being asked to ignore it.
So I memorialized the conversation and the stated change in a document.
I didn’t think this particular policy was a Brown Rule.
Three Types of Rules
Policy is starkly different from culture.
Policy, laws, bylaws, rules, and procedures are explicit. If it doesn’t say it, it isn’t policy. Whenever my unit has a question about a procedure, the simplest answer is, “What does the policy say?”
Sometimes we need to interpret the principle behind the policy. But it is comforting when the answer you need is simply spelled out.
When writing policy, there are three types of rules.
Red Rules
Red Rules are rules written in blood.
They keep people safe. They were learned by studying accidents or created because of regulation. They cannot be avoided and should not be shirked. They may cost the company money to enforce, but they exist to keep people from getting hurt.
As a small plane climbs, the air gets thinner. The pilot needs to adjust the fuel-to-air mixture as the aircraft climbs. If the mixture isn’t adjusted, the engine will eventually have too much fuel and not enough air, reducing its ability to operate efficiently.
Cessna provides procedures for leaning the mixture in the Pilot Operating Handbook.
This is a Red Rule. It exists because the consequences of getting it wrong can be serious.
Green Rules
Green Rules are rules written in cash.
They save money. They are there to keep a company fiscally responsible. They codify for the employee the efficient way of doing things if it is not obvious. It may have nothing to do with safety but is important nonetheless.
Cessna lets you lean the fuel to a perfect fuel-to-air ratio (Peak Lean) or a little more fuel than necessary (Rich of Peak). Both are acceptable, but my aviation program has decided to use Peak Lean. Extra fuel in the engine either gets wastefully burned or fouls up the engine parts causing extra maintenance in the long run.
That is a Green Rule designed to save the program money.
It isn’t about keeping the pilot alive. It is about making the operation more efficient and less expensive.
Brown Rules
Brown Rules are full of crap.
They are ignored. People avoid them. They are old or outdated. People say things like, “Oh yeah, we don’t do that anymore.” This is very unhealthy for an organization and should be avoided at all costs.
Consider how aircraft were traditionally leaned before modern instrumentation. Pilots would reduce the fuel mixture until the engine began to sputter and then add fuel back in. With modern avionics and engine instrumentation, there are better ways to accomplish the same thing.
If an organization still had a policy requiring the old method, it would be a Brown Rule.
The problem with Brown Rules is not simply that they are inconvenient. The problem is that they teach people to ignore policy.
Identifying Brown Rules
Unfortunately, just because an organization is avoiding a rule and believes it is out-of-date does not mean the rule is actually a Brown Rule. Perhaps leaders haven’t effectively communicated why the policy is important. Maybe the circumstances that created the rule still exist. Or perhaps the employees simply don’t understand the consequences of ignoring it.
Some common examples include wearing a hard hat through a particular area, displaying company ID cards on lanyards around the office, or piggy-backing another employee through a badged entryway.
People may say, “Nobody really cares about that rule.”
That doesn’t make it a Brown Rule.
If a rule is being ignored, leaders need to educate themselves on why that’s happening.
If a rule is being ignored, organizations need to educate themselves on why the rule is there.
If the rule exists for a legitimate reason, leaders need to reinforce it. If the rule is outdated, then fix it. If your policy legitimately contains Brown Rules, spend the time to update it. Cut out the inefficiency. Remove the unnecessary requirements.
Because once an organization becomes comfortable ignoring some of its policy, it becomes much easier to ignore the rest. Today, it may be an old administrative requirement. Tomorrow, it may be a Green Rule that costs the organization money.
Eventually, it could be a Red Rule.
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