I liked your reply so much I had to do more than just upvote.  :)  Policies get a bad rap because there are so many bad policies, and so many incompetent leaders who hold them sacred.  That doesn&#x27;t mean policies shouldn&#x27;t exist.<p>I&#x27;ve only ever worked at ginormous companies and the most effective ones are the ones that are transparent about what kinds of policies, processes and guidelines should exist <i>and why</i>, and regularly review them for accuracy and sanity.  In some cases, external regulation forces this (Sarbanes-Oxley, FDA CFR 11, DoD ITAR&#x2F;EAR, etc), and that&#x27;s a good thing as long as the company&#x27;s policy&#x2F;process owner is doing their job properly.