📖 Business
Biz - Work the Policy Not the Exceptions
Larson's principle that every exception granted to a policy creates "exception debt" — invisible unfairness that accumulates over time and erodes organizational trust. When a manager bypasses their own rules for a special case, they signal that the rules don't really matter, create a precedent that others will cite, and build a system where outcomes depend on who asks rather than what the policy says. The fix is counterintuitive: if a policy doesn't work, change the policy for everyone rather than granting exceptions.
2
Minutes
2
Concepts
+45
XP
1
How It Works
The exception debt cycle:
- A policy exists (promotion criteria, on-call rotation, code review requirements).
- Someone requests an exception ("Can we skip code review for this hotfix?").
- The manager grants the exception because it seems reasonable in the moment.
- Others learn about the exception and either (a) request their own or (b) resent the unfairness.
- The policy loses credibility. Compliance becomes optional for anyone willing to argue.
- The manager now spends time adjudicating exception requests instead of doing actual work.
Larson's rule: you should be able to explain every decision you make using the existing policy. If you cannot, the policy needs updating — not bypassing.
Where this applies:
- Promotion criteria — if someone deserves promotion but doesn't meet the criteria, the criteria need updating, not an exception.
- Headcount allocation — if a team needs more people but the allocation model says no, fix the model.
- Project prioritization — if a project keeps getting priority overrides, the prioritization framework is broken.
- On-call rotations — if someone keeps getting exempted, the rotation structure needs redesigning.