When speed and customization conflict, a team needs an agreed approach to the central challenge. Richard Rumelt calls this a guiding policy: the broad approach chosen to address the diagnosed challenge, helping people make related decisions when the leader is not in the room.
A useful policy is more specific than “put the customer first.” If the challenge is slow task completion, the team might protect the shortest path through the core task when requests for customization arrive. That does not settle every decision. It gives people a principle to apply and a reason to explain their choices.
A guiding policy also helps a team stay coherent under pressure. New opportunities arrive, and urgent requests compete for attention. The policy makes it easier to ask whether a proposed move addresses the chosen challenge or simply adds another destination.
Try this test: could two colleagues use the policy to make a similar call in the same situation? If not, make the direction clearer. A good policy leaves room for judgment while reducing guesswork.
Source: Good Strategy/Bad Strategy