If there were no laws there would be no lawbreakers. But of course most individuals want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be part of a community, and therefore want to understand their rights and responsibilities with regard to others. There's a balance. We don't let the administrative functions ride roughshod over the researchers in their quest for efficiencies. We don't let the researchers have free-reign on how they use corporate resources.

Set up too many rules and regulations and you risk disrespect for the important rules as you engender it for trivial rules. As a colleague has told me with regards to the abuse of metrics: you can't count what counts. Analogously you can't make rules that rule the heart.

Researchers seek to acquire universal elements of knowledge to better understand themselves and to advance in their own self-realization. We want to tap into the inner drive of the individuals so they embrace the effort as though the cure were personally relevant. We seek an almost religious faith in the goals and objectives of the R&D effort.

For this almost religious fervor to be embraced there must be a free assent. Individuals cannot be coerced into having faith. Without free assent, men and women lapse into deadening routine and little by little become incapable of participating with authentic enthusiasm. If you set up a detailed list of rules and regulations for me to follow, I simply follow the rules, adhering to the letter but not the spirit of the rules. I publicly parade my adherence while I secretly undermine respect for the rules with my self-serving rationalizations and indulgences. But capture my imagination, allow me to pursue the truth in my own way, and I’ll work day and night to defend my truths.

Make a decision to which I do not assent, in which I do not see the communal good, and I’ll find a thousand ways to undermine your decision during implementation, and to find other outlets for my freedom. The human capacity for legalism is limitless. I’ll take 15 minutes to Figure out how to do I wanted to do anyway. My life’s ambition now lies elsewhere than your intended decision. My individual freedom now trumps my commitment to the cause. The recipient is embittered; the decision-maker has a Pyrrhic victory.