Most people hear words like compliance, regulatory, or standards and think ‘boring.’ Well, it certainly isn’t as exciting to follow someone else’s idea. It always feels much more motivating to create our own ideas and bring them to life.
So, it is no wonder why people don’t make eye contact or go the other way when they see the ‘compliance’ person.
But the truth is, we ALL have things that we don’t want to do… but we need to do them because the benefit is greater than the burden (Benefit > Burden). For example, most people dislike tax time. But — we all must comply with getting our taxes submitted by the deadline, otherwise, we risk a tax penalty.
Compliance as an Opportunity for Innovation
Rather than seeing compliance as a burden, consider seeing it as an opportunity for innovation and a strategic advantage that can accelerate your organization’s goals and leave compliance reviewers using you, your team, and your organization as the model.
As a result, you and your team don’t ‘waste’ time on compliance — rather it is the catalyst that enables innovation. Remember the saying “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” by Les Brown? This saying applies to compliance in that you can choose if you are going to simply meet the expectation … or will you and your team reimagine the standard and reach the moon?
Reimagine the Standards as a Catalyst for Innovation
What if standards and requirements were reimagined? Not through the lens of regulations but through your innovative idea, creativity, and cleverness. Consider a standard, rule, or requirement that frustrates you and your team. A few questions to consider:
- What is it about the compliance standard that feels so limiting?
- If I were in charge, how would I rewrite the compliance standard?
- What is preventing me from applying my higher standard? How can I work around those obstacles?
- What value-add does a higher standard have for the company/organization? In what ways is this higher standard a differentiator?
If you and your organization would benefit from innovative compliance, let’s do it together.
