Following the Rules: Definition and Practical Implications

Our purpose in this chapter is to extend our practical understanding of the ways in which rules operate. Once again, we draw on the observations carried out over a period of several years in the AME of the Paris Métro as part of a study of the introduction of a new wage rule. It would be a mistake to analyse the effects of the new wage rule in isolation. What needs to be considered, rather, is the entire set of rules into which the new rule was incorporated. The main reason for this is that the rules governing an activity are incomplete; each of them needs to be interpreted in the light of information contained in other rules, as well as of custom and practice and context. It seems to us that one of the ways in which we can begin to understand how rules impact on individuals and groups is to turn the question round and examine how individuals follow rules. This is the purpose of the first part of this chapter. As we observed operatives at work, it became clear to us that they were translating these necessarily abstract rules into concrete reference points, the interpretation of which gradually crystallized and led to the repetitive working practices generally denoted by the term routine. In our view, one of the major differences between rules and routines is that the former are explicit mechanisms while the latter are implicit.