Why Policies Are Usually the Last Thing I Focus on

One of the questions I get asked most often when I begin working with a new client is: "When are we going to update our policies?"

My answer usually surprises people. Not yet.

That doesn't mean policies aren't important. They absolutely are.

But policies are rarely where I start.

Here's why.

When I begin working with a new organization, I don't yet know enough.

I don't know how leaders make decisions.

I don't know what employees are actually experiencing.

I don't know which policies are working, which ones are routinely ignored, or which ones have been unintentionally replaced by "the way we've always done it."

Most importantly, I don't yet understand the problems we're trying to solve.

Because policies should never exist simply to check a compliance box.

They should reflect how an organization intends to operate.

Over the first several months, I'm listening more than I'm writing.

I'm learning how decisions are made, how information flows, where leaders are aligned, where they aren't, and how employees experience the business day to day.

Sometimes what appears to be a policy issue turns out to be a communication issue.

Sometimes it's a leadership consistency issue.

Sometimes it's an operational issue that no policy could ever fix.

If I rewrite policies before understanding those realities, I'm simply documenting assumptions.

I'd rather document clarity.

By the time I sit down to revise policies, usually many months into the relationship, I have a much better understanding of the organization.

I know the decisions leadership has made.

I know the direction they want to go.

I understand the behaviours they want to reinforce and the consistency they're trying to create.

At that point, policies become much more than a handbook.

They become a reflection of the organization's values, expectations, and way of operating.

Good policies don't create good organizations.

Good organizations create policies that make sense.

For me, policies aren't the starting point.

They're the outcome of understanding the people, the business, and the direction leadership wants to take.