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Rules are essential for maintaining order within an organization, society, or community. However, excessive rules can be troublesome, especially if they are contradictory, unfairly applied, overly subjective, or poorly understood by those expected to follow them. In the grand scheme of things, rules are generally reactive; an undesirable behavior occurs, and a rule is created to prevent it from happening again.
To deter reoccurrences, rules must prescribe some form of punishment. If a violation occurs, the offender pays a penalty. Ideally, this penalty compels the offender to rethink their choices while serving as a deterrent for others.
Effectively, a rule should address the process or behavior leading to an outcome, rather than the outcome itself. For example, if you want to eradicate cheating, punishing students simply for having identical test answers may penalize non-cheating behavior. If students study together, they are naturally more likely to share the same patterns of correct and incorrect answers.
However, if you observe them sharing information, or if data shows a significant disparity in their levels of understanding, you are then punishing the specific action of cheating.
In the piece below, I share my thoughts on certain basketball rules that fail to address the core issues, leading to confusion, exemptions, and questionable enforcement.
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