Foolish ‘Brules’ in business that make the whole world go crazy

I understand. Companies must have some rules, but “brules”, that is what leaders must question.

Coined by Vishen Lakhiani, founder of Mindvalley and author of The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, brules, also known as ‘bullshit rules’, is a term for the limiting rules, largely unconscious and insidious limiting rules that a company or culture it maintains that it no longer serves the common good.

They are often rules that someone made up in the past that no longer apply to the current situation or that were created as lazy attempts to create order or in a knee-jerk response to the insanity of a difficult employee who did something stupid.

I know what you’re thinking. It is important to give employees structure and to be able to maintain standards. However, what I have discovered from working with dozens of companies is that in almost all cases, upon closer inspection, establishing a new rule would be viewed as mismanagement by management and is potentially a narrow form of sights and moral death to tackle a small problem. The vast majority of the time, the employee’s manager must handle the issue one-on-one, quickly and efficiently.

Why put an entire workforce out of play because a manager avoids conflict and doesn’t know how to manage performance and have a difficult conversation? It just makes a stupid part of the whole system. What I would recommend, instead, is that leaders receive tools, training, or training to help them learn how to address these issues in a timely and efficient manner.

So what kind of Brules am I talking about? There are so many, but here are three of the most common that I come across the most:

1. Limitation of Internet use.
We live in the age of the Internet. People should be able to connect to their lives online during breaks. When stupid steps are taken to restrict people’s activity on the internet, it does more than demoralize them and treat them like children, it can also limit their ability to do their job. In case you haven’t realized that it’s rare to visit a library for research nowadays, we all do it online. Checking the LinkedIn or Facebook profile of someone you just interviewed, for example, is a totally legitimate way to use social media. With trust as the foundation of a culture, allowing Internet access is not an event.

2. Put an end to uniqueness and self-expression
Many organizations control what people can have on their desks and what they wear. Yes, I worked on one of these and it almost killed me (no feather boas or tiaras allowed!)

A sexy half-naked calendar? Do we have a workplace in strappy stilettos? Yes, I understand; they are a no go. But employers dictating how many personal photos people can show, whether or not they can use a water bottle, have a plant, or put their children’s drawings on their desk is just ridiculous. (Hint that these are people, not AI robots.) Again, it comes down to culture, to leaders being able to address issues competently and confidentially and treating employees as trusted adults. Easy.

3. Crazy hoop jump for attendance, leave and free time.
You pay your people for the work they do and the value they produce, right? It seems that no, many workplaces still believe that they pay people for the specific number of hours that they remain chained to their desk. And I thought slavery was abolished! When companies are unnecessarily strict in requiring documentation for grief and medical leave, it erodes trust and leaves a bad taste in the mouth of employees. It is true that there have been cases in which employees have pretended that a sick person takes a day off, but if they hire you, what does it say about your hiring and selection process or the level of commitment you have? It is not the kind of culture you want to create. In a culture of trust and transparency, people actually ask for a day off when they need it, some workplaces even allow mental health days, it can work.

What is take out food?
Take a look at their policies and rules – are any of them erring on the side of the Brules? Can you remove or alter the ones that are unnecessary or demoralizing? You may find that you keep the best people and increase productivity and positivity at work.

What other policies and brules drive you crazy? I’d love to know – share your thoughts in the comment section below.