Have you read The Elements of Sound Policy? If not, start there.
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Assessing Your Instruments
A policy instrument passes scrutiny when it is not compromised, and earns engagement when it conveys the correct messages. You can be confident the policy is sound when it passes a number of tests for integrity, confirming that no vulnerabilities exist.
The vulnerabilities to check for in your policies are set out on this page, grouped according to the damage they do to the instrument.
Contents
The Target State: a Perfect Policy™
A Perfect Policy is clear, succinct and respectful. It
- contains the elements of a sound policy
- is not compromised by vulnerabilities
- is not bloated with unnecessary material.
An instrument is deficient if it is compromised, bloated, or both.
A. Compromised Instrument
A policy instrument whose integrity is undermined by the presence of one or more vulnerabilities.
Risk: A compromised instrument is an effectiveness problem. It creates exposure to challenge in interpretation, breakdown in effect, and legal liability.
A policy supports the health of an organization the way milk supports the health of an individual. You wouldn't want to rely on a compromised instrument any more than you'd want to consume spoiled milk.
B. Bloated Instrument
A policy instrument that contains redundant or gratuitous content.
Risk: A bloated instrument is an efficiency problem. It wastes time and consumes resources by focussing the attention of drafters, approvers, and other stakeholders on matters better handled elsewhere.
Diluting milk with water takes effort and adds bulk to the liquid but delivers no additional nutritional value.
A1. Counterfeit Statement
A statement that purports to be an authoritative rule over a topic that falls within the jurisdiction of a superior authority.
Risk: Misrepresenting the authority of the approving body creates exposure to the statement being declared of no force by a court, tribunal, or regulatory authority.
Example: a statement that purports to define sexual harassment. What constitutes sexual harassment is determined by legislation and court decisions. Where there's a difference between the legal definition and the organization's definition, the organization will lose every time.
The equivalent situation would be a milk carton labelled "certified safe under our store's standards."
A2. Governance Overreach
A statement in a policy instrument that is of no force because the institutional authority that approved it exceeded its jurisdiction.
Risk: Exceeding the jurisdiction of the approving body renders statements inert and creates exposure to conflict with decisions made by the competent authority.
Example: a statement in a finance policy covering the dress code.
The equivalent situation would be a carton labelled "this milk was packaged by the meat department."
A3. Mislabelled Policy Decision
A policy decision incorrectly located in a supporting section of the instrument.
Risk: Incorrectly placing decisions outside the substantive portion of the instrument create exposure to escaping the level of scrutiny applied to other statements.
Example: a statement of policy located in the interpretation section.
Milk sold in a plastic container marked "coffee whitener" could be overlooked in the quality control process.
A4. Ambiguity
Language that is capable of more than one defensible interpretation.
Risk: The possibility of more than one defensible interpretation creates exposure to unpredictability of application.
Example: using the word employee to refer both to individuals under an employment contract and to any staff member in the same document.
Calling all white liquids milk would create a lot of confusion.
A5. Contradiction
Language that contains mutually exclusive terms or statements.
Risk: The presence of a contradiction creates exposure to unpredictability of application.
Example: a statement combining the term may (meant to provide an option) and never.
A carton labelled "milk juice" would be unintelligible.
B1. Placebo Statement
A statement in a policy instrument that is effectively inert because the operative decision has already been approved elsewhere.
Example: a statement in an information policy reminding people to follow the security policy.
B2. Extraneous material
The presence of material in a policy instrument that does not record a decision of the approving body.
Example: The ice melts at 0°C / 32°F.
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