Rules vs. Standards: Why a Focus on Minutia Inhibits Performance

Within Army culture there is a basic misunderstanding regarding Standards and Rules. They are not the same, despite a long-standing military belief in equivalence. Mistaking the two explains much of the gap between leaders, especially senior leaders, and lower echelons. This gap is created through a constant refrain of 'enforcing Standards,' expressed by unit-wide emails covering topics from traffic laws and parking to medical appointments. Too often, leaders do not understand that aggressively enforcing Rules, especially those consisting of minutia and unrelated to unit performance, actually distracts from the adherence to Standards and creates a culture not espoused in Army Doctrine.