Laws Control the Lesser Man

Growing construction businesses need processes and accountability systems the same way society needs laws, police, courts and jails.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

You can also never create enough laws or prisons to correct an underlying lack of strong values and shared mission.

Quote: Laws control the lesser man, right conduct controls the greater one. Mark Twain.

As a contractor starts growing leadership needs to put some processes in place to keep things running smooth.  This is called enabling bureaucracy because it is the standardized set of rules that allow sustainable growth. As a contractor grows past about 150 people or starts to expand geographically there will likely be a point where too much process starts to creep into the business.  This is considered coercive or stifling bureaucracy.  

Leaders must always be working on the balance between aligned mission, culture or behavioral norms, processes and accountability systems.  

If you find yourself and others pulling heavily on the process and accountability lever with diminishing returns the likely problem is lack of balance with people and their behavior. 


Learn More:

Compliance Will Only Take Safety So Far

Books:

Schedule a call with us to learn how we help contractors scale their businesses sustainably 




Accountability Prerequisites
Accountability in a job role is critical for contractors to grow. Accountability without clarity, capability, and capacity only leads to stress, lower performance, and higher risk over time.
Leadership Team Communication
Open and frequent communication does not automatically build great projects or construction companies.
Balancing Training and Coaching Effectively
Every contracting business is made up of many jobs that need to be done, ranging from relatively simple and short-term tasks to complex, ambiguous, and long-term objectives.