In this class you will learn about rules, when they solve problems, as well as when they create problems.

Here is the simple overview:  Rules can solve problems in situations where

1. something must be done the same way every time, and
2. the environment never changes.

We most often associate rules with sports and games.  The rules define what players can, and cannot do during game play.  If a rule is broken, penalties are created to ensure that the rules are followed.  The variations in each game or match, then, take place within the limits imposed by the rules.

Rules exist in almost every part of our lives.  Some are adhered to as rigidly as those in sports (e.g., rules associated with applying for, receiving, and paying back student loans), others not so much (e.g., speed laws on freeways).

When it comes to following rules, there is another category, really the most interesting and also the category accounting for most of our behavior.  These are situations where a behavior is so consistent that it seems like people are following rules, yet rules were never established.  In many cases we were told to do something a certain way, we did it that way, and continue to do it the same way as if we were following a rule.  The term for this category is rule-governed behavior.  A rule does not exist, but we act as if one does.

Many of these behaviors stem from habit or ritual and we follow them for various reasons, like safety/comfort or efficiency.  Oftentimes, however, we take them for granted and never really question whether there are better ways.

Although there are strict rules in most sports, many players as well as coaches have found new, creative ways of engaging in the play of the sport.  A great example is the story of Dick Fosbury.  What is interesting about the story is that Fosbury was not so much interested in improving the sport, rather he wanted to find a way of participating that was better for him.  In doing so, he changed it for everyone.

When i first started teaching at PC i was asked by a department chair why i had no exams on my syllabi.  i stated that i don’t give exams.  i was told that, at Providence College, policy (the rule) dictates that classes have exams.  i asked where i could find that policy.  The chair said he would find that for me.  That, of course, never happened because there is no such rule.  But the fact that classes do mostly the same things seems as if there are rules.  Classrooms – as well as many other aspects of college life – provide wonderful examples of rule-governed behavior (which, of course, means that there are SO many aspects of college life where things can be changed by people who understand that the rules don’t really exist).

i do not give exams because i found better ways of assessing student learning.  But if i would have simply taken-for-granted that exams are always given in college classes, i never would have asked the question: “What are better ways of assessing student learning in the classroom?”  We come back to right answers again.  If we take-for-granted that something is right, it never occurs to us to ask about alternatives.

In situations characterized by the two conditions cited above (things always done the same way and the environment never changes), rules establish order and facilitate the flow of activity.  However, rules create problems when either of the above two conditions does not hold.

Here is the real problem:  We live in a world where there are fewer and fewer situations where those two conditions hold, especially the second one.

It gets worse:  unless you know how to deal with uncertainty, unless you know how to innovate, your only response in VUCA situations is to create more rules!  Increase the amount of control.  Which is a major factor in why the rules aren’t working in the first place.  To most of us, following rules (whether they exist or not) creates certainty and predictability so we are continually making – and following – them since it is all we know.  But in volatile situations, having rules just makes things worse.

On breaking rules

The same is true of adults as it is of toddlers:  We learn the most from breaking the rules.

What i am not talking about is breaking rules simply just to break them.  i am talking about breaking them in a specific way.  What?  A rule for breaking rules????  Huh?

What we will cover in class, and practice continuously, is a process for rule breaking.  And that process itself must be questioned and improved.  The following is an overview of our initial process:

Step One: It always starts with questioning.  Given anything that we do in class, we ask, at minimum, the following two questions:  1) What are the objectives, what are we trying to accomplish in this activity?, and 2) Are there more effective alternatives for accomplishing those objectives?

There are other questions to ask that define the parameters of the activity.  For example, what is the deadline for completing the activity and Whom should be involved?

Step Two:  In the spirit of play, determine alternatives to the activity, ones that we believe may better accomplish our objectives OR accomplish the objectives but allow us to achieve other objectives.  In this step the idea is not to come up with something we know is better, rather something we think might be better, that we can try.

Play through experimentation works best under the following conditions:  1) It is something we can try in a short period of time, and 2) using very few resources.  This sometimes means that – even though the activity would be adopted by the whole class – a small group in the class can “pilot-test” our idea.

Step Three: Individuals and/or groups in charge of these experiments will report back to the class with preliminary results on the experiments and recommendations on next steps (which can include making improvements), then trying again, trying a completely new experiment, or going back to the original activity.

What is critical is continually focusing on how well our objectives are fulfilled.

This process of continual improvement through challenging rules and playful experimenting is a large part of the kind of management organizations today are seeking.  That management style is called entrepreneurship which, rather than simply being associated with creating start-ups, is increasingly sought in organizations as a management style with emphasis on creativity, innovation, and dealing with the constant change from a VUCA world.

What am i getting myself into?

So am i really saying that almost all of the “rules” of this class can be broken?  Yes.  There are a very few that exist that we really can’t break.  The major one is that, at the end of the semester, i have to submit a grade for each one of you.  Man, how i would love to break that rule!  But breaking that one would create problems for you.  However, as with the Fosbury Flop, how we determine that grade, including who is involved in creating it, is not rule-bound and – if you learn the material in this class well enough – we will find ways of making the grade you receive in the class truly meaningful.

Whether we are dealing with assessment, assignments, or anything else in this class, the one guideline for breaking a rule, practice, or policy, is to find a more effective way of doing it.  And “effective” means learning management and organizations through practice.

Given the need for experimentation, learning from trial and error, the way that we will approach rule breaking is the same as when we were children:  through play.