Daniele Catalanotto
Daniele's Principles Drafts
Feb 25, 2022

Don’t enforce the rule completely



A Service Design Principle about policies and exceptions

I’m on a train. A staff member from the train company passes through and checks every travel ticket. A lady says:

“I’m so sorry, I was late, and I couldn’t get a ticket at the station. Could I buy one with you?”

The lady also explains why she was in a rush in a bit more detail:

“It’s the first time I jump on a train without a ticket. I’m so sorry.”

The rule in Swiss trains is simple. You get fined if you go on a train without a ticket. So you have to pay a fine and the price of the ticket! So the staff member explains to the lady:

“You know it’s the policy that you pay a fine and the ticket price because you have to pay the ticket before entering the train.”

But then the staff member said something very interesting:

“But I see that this is something that you didn’t do willingly. So I’m going to make an exception. Today, and just today, I won’t make you pay the fine. But remember, the rule is clear: buy the ticket before jumping on the train.”

This employee of the Swiss train company is really smart. She uses restraint in the power she has!

That reminds me of a concept of “forbearance” I first read about in the book How Democracies Die by Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky. The authors explain that one of the elements of a healthy democracy is when politicians don’t use their full power but instead exercise a smart restraint.

Forbearance is also something we should use in services and interactions between humans and organizations.

A service staff member who just follows the rule by the letter feels like a robot who has no understanding of the human stories and contexts.

Forbearance obviously makes services more human but also more complex to handle. You have to give some freedom to the people who enforce the rules. And you have to accept that there will be some variations in the experiences people go through in your service.

Little side notes

  • This is the very first shitty draft for this new Service Design Principle.
  • Once adapted, even more, this principle will be part of the book "Service Design Principles 201-300"
6 comments
Daniele Catalanotto
Mar 15, 2022
Here is a second draft of this Service Design Principle:

Don’t enforce the rule completely 

On the train, a staff member checks the tickets. A customer says:

“I’m so sorry. I was late. I couldn’t get a ticket at the station. Can I buy one with you?”
Then, she continues:

“It’s the first time I jump on a train without a ticket. I’m so sorry.”
The staff member explains to the passenger:

“It’s the policy that you pay a fine plus the full ticket price. So you have to pay the ticket before entering the train!”
But then the staff member says something very interesting:

“But I see that this is something that you didn’t do willingly. So I’ll make an exception. Today, and just today, I won’t make you pay the fine. But remember, the rule is clear: buy the ticket before jumping on the train. And if it’s not possible, come right away to the train staff.”
This employee of the Swiss train company is brilliant. She uses restraint in the power she has!

This story reminds me of the concept of “forbearance”. I first read about it in the book How Democracies Die by Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky. The authors explain that in a healthy democracy, politicians don’t use their full power. But instead, they exercise a smart restraint.

We should use forbearance in services and interactions between humans and organizations.
A service staff member who follows the rule by the letter feels like a robot. It feels like she has no understanding of the human stories and contexts.

Little side notes

  • This is the second draft of this principle
  • I was able to reduce the numbers of words by 27% compared to the first version you can read above.
  • You can see a graph of all the changes below visualized with this tool:


If you are curious you can see below two screenshots of the original and updated text in the Hemingway editor app that I use to spot too long sentences and wordy parts. The more highlights there are in the app, the more you need to edit.
Show 2 more...
Patrick Marcelissen
May 16, 2022
I like the second one more

A service staff member who follows the rule by the letter feels like a robot. It feels like she has no understanding of the human stories and contexts.
I would suggest empower and trust your staff to deliver a great service experience.
Deleted
Oct 28, 2022
I was going to put this as a note for the previous principle about changing a rule, by being lenient in how you enforce it. Or even “grandfathering” in the people there before. (Lower fees for long-time clients, say.)
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 31, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

A train staff member checks the tickets. A passenger says:

"I'm sorry. I was late and couldn't get a ticket. Can I buy one now? She continues: "I'm so sorry; it's the first time I'm on a train without a ticket. "

The staff member explains: "You must buy your ticket before you enter the train. If you don't, you get a fine!" T

She marks a pause for the information to sink in, then continues.

"I'll make an exception today! You didn't do it on purpose. So, I won't fine you today. But remember, buy the ticket before you enter the train. And if you can't, inform the train staff immediately."

This employee of the Swiss train company doesn't act like a robot. Instead of following the rule and using all her power, she adapts herself to the context! Smart! (1)

So let me ask you.

Where could you use smart restraint in your service to create a better customer experience?

Footnotes

(1) This story reminds me of the concept of “forbearance”. I first read about it in the book How Democracies Die. In it, the authors explain that in a healthy democracy, politicians don’t use their full power; instead, they restrain themselves smartly — Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (2019). How Democracies Die. Crown. Available at https://extra.swissinnovation.academy/kwzW accessed 20 October 2022.

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 34 % compared to the previous draft.
  • I’ve added a conclusion question to help the reader turn this principle into action.