A great deal of my work is consulting, and a key component of the field is rapidly trying to understand a client's business. I have tried to make it a habit to work in different industries and different geographies so that I am learning something new with each new client. As part of that learning process, occasionally I find irrational processes or procedures and oftentimes staff at the client get a bit uncomfortable defending these processes. As I enquire further, one of the brick walls I frequent hit is the quip that "It's policy."

These purported "policies" involve all manner of situations, from the inane (a factory worker told me it was 'policy' to open, walk through and close a door three feet out of the way from walking through a large open garage-style door) to abject time wasters (documentation from one region supposedly had to be completely reformatted to comply with another region's "policy.")

Usually, no one can remember the source of the policy, and if you ask three people from different areas of the organization about the process in question, you will get three completely different responses, all pointing to an undocumented "policy."

At their root, most of these "policies" are an attempt to put an authoritarian veneer over the old standby of "but we've always done it this way." They tend to protect some pet process of someone in the organization, or allow someone to control other's activities by requiring a rubber stamp or approval of some sort.You certainly don't need consulting help to quickly identify and blast away "policy" roadblocks. Examine your organization with an open mind and a keen ear for talk of "policy," even if it is emitted from your own mouth. Eliminating these pointless practices may ruffle some feathers initially, but those who have been chained to an inane policy will thank you by contributing their time towards far more valuable activities.