(Ask Why) “We’ve Always Done it This Way”

One of my guilty pleasures is watching doctor shows on TV.  Grey’s Anatomy, The Resident, and Station 19.  The plots revolve around a bunch of doctors, interns, and residents that see patients, get in conflicts constantly, and get it on with each other regularly in the on-call room.

Another observation I’ve made though is around the number of hours the residents are required to work.  On one episode, the hospital decided to adhere to the rules of 80 hours per week leading to some of the old-timers complaining that the longer hours made them better doctors.  As a potential patient, that worries me.  I want my doctor to be rested if they’re making life and death decisions about me and my family.

When I was in the Navy, there were a whole lot of traditions, requirements, and customs that made little or no sense to me.  They were blanket policies that really fit better in a shipboard environment (like onboard fire watches, seabag inspections, and safety standdowns) but they were forced fleetwide, which includes shore stations.  This meant I needed to stencil my name and social security number on all of my clothing, including my underwear (yes, a 34-year-old man writing his name on his underwear).  It just didn’t make any sense.

What procedures, customs, and requirements are you using now that are arcane, outdated, and done simply for the sake of doing?  Could your policies be chasing away your customers and preventing talented employees from staying with you?  Are you doing things simply because they’ve always been done that way?  More importantly, as The Boss, how do you handle it when one of your team questions a policy?  Please don’t tell them “This is the way we’ve always done it, so DO IT!”

This week, take some time to view your standard operating procedures, policies, rules, and requirements. Don’t let tradition and past regulations prevent you from future success.