Business Success with Open Source

Evolve the Policies

The world around us, your customers’ needs, your entire market and product space, and everything else is constantly evolving. Why, then, do most P&P seem carved in stone? Considering the ever-changing nature of business, P&P should instead be carved in something much less permanent—Jello-O, perhaps.

In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, the character Blake famously tells the other salespeople to pay attention to their ABCs: Always Be Closing. For policies and procedures, a better version is Always Be Changing. An out-of-date policy or procedure is an ignored policy or procedure, and that puts your company, your business, and perhaps even your customers at risk.

Commonly, P&P maintenance is an ignored step in the P&P life cycle. ...