COMPLIANCE, IT'S LIKE LEARNING TO RIDE A BIKE

We have become dependent on the compliance stabilisers of policies, procedures and controls. If we think about what cultural change is and akin it to learning to ride a bicycle...we need to change tack.

“Dad, don’t I need to learn to ride using stabilisers?”

“No, the best way is without stabilisers and without pedals!”

For decades the method used by parents around the world to get their children riding a bicycle was to start with stabilisers. Trouble is, when learning to ride a bike, the difficulty is not pedalling, but balancing.

According to 'Littlebigbikes' there are five reasons that stabilisers do not encourage learning:

Stabilisers don’t teach a child balance,

Stabilisers make the bike less agile,

Stabilisers teach kids bad habits,

Stabilisers can’t be used on uneven ground, and

Stabilisers add extra cost, weight and complexity

Nowadays, many parents are using the 'balance bike' to teach their children to ride. Now it's not like the 'balance bike' is new, it was invented in 1817 by Karl Drais, but we have become culturally dependent on stabilisers.

The balance bike works because it counters the issues above.

It focuses on balance

It is free to move as it should

It does not encourage reliance

It can be used on any surface

It is simple and less complex

The best way to 'learn to ride a bicycle' is not through the use of 'stabilisers', but through using 'a balance bike'.

If we replace

'learn to ride a bicycle' with 'develop a compliance culture',

If we replace

'stabilisers' with 'policies, procedures and controls', and

If we replace

'a balance bike' with 'lived values, behaviours and patterns',

We have an interesting concept.

The best way to 'develop a compliance culture' is not through the use of 'policies, procedures and controls', but through using 'lived values, behaviours and patterns'.