So, what is Making Rules Matter exactly?
It’s a philosophy, framework, and set of practices very similar to something like a school of thought like how “internal family systems” (IFS) in psychology codified a particular perspective and set of solutions to help people resolve their own inner conflict. Unlike something like IFS, Making Rules Matter (MRM) of course is dealing with collaboration and communication and is not a purely psychological theory. However, like IFS, MRM is first and foremost a practical theory.
Aren’t “rules” really about conformity and oppression?
They certainly can be. They are definitely about getting alignment, but that needn’t be about conformity. Minimal needed alignment is the aim. But beyond this the key thing is that neither complying with rules nor defying rules is objectively a good thing to do. One of the models explains that there are good and bad versions of both compliance and defiance.
Is this about distributing power?
Yes, but not exclusively. There is a lot to be said about
How do I get my team/child to do what I want them to do?
First off, despite what some may tell you, there is nothing wrong with trying to get someone to do something. But there’s a critical difference between 1) trying to get someone to do something that you think will help them (and may or may not serve your own interests), and 2) trying to get them to serve your interests at the expense of their own. With that said, if you are trying approach #2 then I don’t have much to offer you, so we shall start with assuming approach #1. I have written about this previously, but here is my formula for conscious collaboration: [article]
With everything going on in the United States politically and all over the world finding ways to make rules matter seems more important than ever. What does this framework have to say about how a society defines and enforces its norms and laws?
Well, on one hand yes the framework is potentially more relevant now given the amount of people who can act as authors of systems. Globalization, and technology mean that more diverse people are encountering each other more often. And we could even say that as a response in a reaction to much of that Similar to the resistance to explicitness, factions form and movements organize to Moore formally resist those kinds of changes. These are important and predictable reactions that need to be more fully understood. For that I can point you to Ken Wilbur’s book Trump post the world.
With that said as the primary curator of this framework I can say that I am very clear that I do not think in terms of societal level systems as collaborative systems. They are societies. They are much more like families than they are teams. And that they exist before any rules are established. That’s what John Searle calls regulate rules versus constitutive rules. You can see my article on democracy is not a game.
So while I would encourage readers to look for any applications, they find suitable, I expressly draw the line at making conclusions about how MRM applies at the level of society. Maybe it’s just my own limitations, but I think it’s necessary to make a distinction there between the things that I feel extremely confident and and have directly experienced, and and those to which I would have to largely speculate.