Blog: David Loshin

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Playing by the Rules

While I was doing some random web searching, I came across an interesting web page that provides some training on finding MP3s using Google. Not that I am suggesting that search engines be used for unacceptable behavior, but my curiosity is piqued by the more general concept of "getting around the rules," and how that concept relates to the more piquant topic of compliance.

There are two approaches to compliance. the first is doing what you need to do to comply; the second is seeing how much you can do to avoid being compliant.

Here is a quick, although probably dated example: During the 1980s and 1990s, police would set up speed traps employing radar systems to determine how fast cars were traveling. As the goal was to identify (and punish) drivers exceeding the posted speed limit, this reflects a simple model of compliance. Drivers who were inclined to speed could react in one of two ways. The first (for the "compliers") was to drive slower (become compliant). The second (for the "avoiders") was to purchase some technology (a radar detector) that would notify the driver when the radar monitoring was taking place and allow the driver to slow down during the monitoring phase, but then resume the noncompliant behavior when there was limited risk of being caught.

Do organizations opt for one or the other of these approaches? What is the risk/reward model? To look at our example, those who became compliant were penalized to some extent by having to reduce their speed and get to where they were going more slowly. There was some monetary investment on behalf of the avoiders (the cost of the radar detector), but otherwise they were rewarded for their noncompliance, since they still get to their destinations more quickly, with some limited risk of getting caught nonetheless.

Is it better to be a complier or an avoider? How does an organization determine its approach, and then communicate that approach to the individuals within the organization? And lastly, I wonder whether there is some middle ground between these two options. Any comments?

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