Dancing with Compliance: How to use Physics to Reframe Compliance
The Preframe
- Can physics can illuminate the path to a culture where compliance is not just a routine, but a performance that captivates and inspires? In Dancing With Compliance: How to use Physics to Reframe Compliance, I share the startling insight I had about the very nature of learning and adaptation, when I watched my son in his dance class this week. This insight applies whether in a studio or within our more structured world of Ethics, Legal and Compliance. I consider how the laws of motion can meet our corporate legal requirements and, how the forces that propel atoms can also power the pillars of our Compliance, Ethics and Governance programs. And I know you have a comment about this topic, so don’t miss out on sharing your views. Leave your comment and grow the conversation.
- If you like the concepts I share in Dancing With Compliance: How to use Physics to Reframe Compliance, register your interest for The Physics of Compliance Masterclass Untold Compliance is running with a brilliant multi-disciplinary panel of experts. Details below.
Dancing with Compliance
Welcome to the crossroads of energy and policy, where ethics, legal and compliance aligns with the momentum of moral conduct.
Initially, after his break for the Easter holidays, my 7 year old son’s movements in his dance class were hesitant, and his face was a mixture of confusion and reluctance. Yet, as he persisted, his body rediscovered its rhythm, transforming him from a cautious participant into someone who was fully engaged and coordinated with the class. I was so proud.
But in observing my son transform in such a short period of time, I had to ask myself how this happened so quickly.
I realised that it was as a result of a series of tiny repetitive actions over a period of time that had come together to create his transformation. Notwithstanding a three week gap over Easter, when his brain started to register the music, he found his head nodding and then his arms and feet started moving, he looked around and saw what everyone else was doing and started to copy them. Slowly, he stopped watching others and started to move without guidance but in total uniformity with the room.
I realised that the key to him unlocking his potential that morning and overcoming his mental and physical confusion and inertia was quite simply that his brain had performed a chain reaction.
Can the principles of physics guide Ethics and Compliance?
But why do we need to use the principle of physics when it comes to legal, ethics and compliance programs?
Simply put – it’s because brains get in the way of people being coordinated and effective when it comes to legal, ethics and compliance. Brains are full of subconscious thoughts floating to the top of our minds at various points during the day taking over our ability to concentrate, move forward or focus, just like with my son. Yet, these same brains are capable of astonishing computation and adaptability.
Can we use the same science that I applied to my son’s dance class to ethics and compliance?
The Compliance Chain Reaction
A chain reaction describes a process where one event sets off a series of similar events. It’s the domino effect, where one nudge unleashes a continuous cascade of motion (or dance).
Here’s how the elements of a nuclear chain reaction can parallel the process of learning and adaptation in something as seemingly unrelated as a dance class:
- Initiation: Every chain reaction requires a trigger. In nuclear physics, it’s a neutron striking a fissile atom. In dance, it’s the music that prompts the first step and then the head nod.
- Propagation: The initial action must be followed by a sustaining force. In the atomic realm, it’s the release of more neutrons. In dance, it’s the beat that drives the continuous flow of movement.
- Sustaining the Reaction: A critical mass is essential; in nuclear terms, it’s enough fissile material to continue the reaction. In a dance class, it’s the collective movement of the whole room that maintains an individual’s momentum.
- Energy Release and Utilization: In fission, the energy heats water to produce steam for electricity. In dance, the energy is the palpable excitement, the joy that fuels further movement and learning.
Imagine applying this analogy to our approach to ethics and compliance. What if we could initiate a series of tiny events related to our controls, such as policies and training, that propels a self-sustaining cycle of engagement, recall and practice?
Just as the dance class collectively created an infectious enthusiasm, a well-orchestrated, almost nuclear approach to ethics and compliance could create a culture where compliance is not just following a policy or attending a training but a series of atomic activities that power our ethics, legal and compliance programs.
Let’s Get Practical
This is more than a cute analogy but something I believe we need to breakdown into our ethics and compliance programs.
And I have to be honest, the reason why I was so interested in my son’s performance this morning and the concept of a chain reaction, is that I realised it applies to something I have been working on for the last year.
It’s a methodology that combines data analytics, with financial modelling, with activities that provide a sustaining collective force for our ethics, legal and compliance programs.
It’s also a methodology I am currently applying to an organisation I am working with to develop their compliance program and it’s a methodology that I will be sharing more about.
So, class will be in session, and the lesson we will be sharing is that by reframing our perspective through the lens of physics, we have the ability to convert legal, ethics and compliance controls into a critical mass of activities.
The Physics of Compliance Masterclass
An elite panel of experts at the frontline of legal strategy, risk management, and data science, will guide you through an enlightening exploration of compliance, ethics and legal programs.
Tom Brown (Financial Crime), David Brown (Financial Modelling), Al Tepper (Marketing), Jason Meyer of Compliance Programs and Engagement and myself (Nicole Rose of Untold Compliance) will share:
- The Catalyst of Training: How compliance training (in whatever form) can be used to initiate and sustain a critical mass of activities.
- Risk Principles in Real-Time: Apply the fundamentals of risk and financial crime analysis to.
- The Equation of Exposure: discover how to use financial modelling techniques to quantify risks, minimize vulnerability and financial exposure.
- Marketing Mechanics: Harness the power of marketing dynamics to propel ethics, legal and compliance into the spotlight, accelerating your program growth and critical mass.
- Data-Driven Dynamics: Navigate the complexities of data analytics to construct a robust framework for measuring compliance, ensuring your controls and strategies resonate with precision and impact.
- Analytics as the Pathway: Learn how to predict outcomes, and transform insights into actionable strategies for a compliant future.
It’s an experience that will redefine how you perceive and implement legal, compliance and ethics in your organisation
If you are interested in attending this Masterclass email me: nicole@untoldcompliance.com
