Are You Your Own Worst Enemy- When Policy Masquerades as Principle

By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

March 23, 2014

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We create battles we do not need to fight.

I avoided one such unnecessary skirmish recently after receiving a call from one of our elementary principals. She called about a clear violation of our dress code policy.

The problem concerned language in the policy prohibiting non-school pictures or logos on clothing, except for small monograms. This created a difficulty for parents who wished to purchase — or had already purchased — tops for younger children bearing flowers, animals, or similar imprints. Several parents were complaining. The principal believed we should enforce the letter of the law, since the policy was clearly written, and that doing so would protect the school’s culture.

I reminded the principal to consider first principles when facing a policy decision. I asked her, “What is the purpose of this policy?” The answer is to prevent students from coming to school wearing shirts displaying the logos or images of people, organizations, or films of questionable reputation or contrary to the biblical values and culture we seek to nurture. After discussing the first-principle question, I suggested we quietly revise the policy to read: “Pictures, imprints, or logos of movies, sports figures, and celebrities are prohibited.”

This subtle change protects the school’s culture while permitting sports logos, team mascots, flowers, animals, and other innocuous imprints. We upheld our first principle, avoided unnecessary conflict, and refused to allow a policy to masquerade as a principle. We also had happy parents.

Policies do not exist for their own sake. We create policies to serve principles. Focus on first things first. Before rendering a decision about enforcing a policy, ask: “What is the fundamental purpose of this policy? Can it be modified or eliminated without compromising an important principle?” If the answer is yes, do so. You will avoid an unnecessary battle and preserve your energy for those that truly must be fought.