Undocumented Features

UF Postings Past: Never Be Afraid to Challenge

May 11, 2008 – 9:01 am

Your company probably has a healthy share of rules and bureaucracy. Most do. All of it is there for a reason, to be sure. Some of those reasons, though, may not be good ones. Procedures have a way of lagging behind business needs and business environment. Sometimes things change and a rule that used to be very important to protect business integrity no longer applies. Sometimes a rule that used to be all about protecting the business now actually endangers it.

Here’s some advice: if you don’t know why things are the way they are, ask questions. If you don’t agree with the answers you receive, don’t be afraid to challenge the policy. Challenge it until you either get a good answer or get the changes needed for the business.

The rules that make up your company’s policies were written by and are owned by employees of your company, employees just like you. If confronted with good reasons and solid evidence why the rules should be different than they are, it is very possible that whoever is responsible for making that policy will rewrite and improve it. It’s possible that there may not even be an owner anymore; sometimes “We’ve always done it this way” is a terrible enemy. Even if you don’t get the change you seek, you may get it waived in certain cases where it no longer makes sense and get your work through faster. The change to the rules that you spark may improve the company overall.

What if you find out that the rule had a good point? Did you waste your time bucking against bureaucracy? Not at all. The explanation of the rule will teach you more about the business. It may explain processes in a context that you’ve never considered. They may teach you something about the company and about business that explains why the rules are the way they are. The change in your work as a result of this new understanding will be worth the effort.

Never be afraid to challenge. One way or another, you have everything to gain.

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