Have you noticed how security policies tend to gather digital dust?
They sit unread in shared folders while teams find clever workarounds to get their work done. It’s not that your team wants to be insecure-it’s that most security policies are written in a way that practically guarantees they’ll be ignored.
I discovered this pattern after working with dozens of companies struggling with security compliance. The companies that succeeded all did three things differently. Let me show you what they were.
Start with the “Why” Behind Every Rule
Imagine you’re driving down a road and suddenly see a “30 km/h” speed limit sign.
If there’s no obvious reason for it, you might ignore it. But what if that same sign said, “30 km/h - School Zone” or showed children crossing? You’d slow down immediately because you understand why it matters.
Security works the same way.
Compliance with security rules drastically improves after clearly explaining the “why” behind security rules.
No additional training. No extra enforcement. Just adding the “why” behind security rules made all the difference.
People follow rules they understand. They ignore rules that seem arbitrary. It’s that simple.
Make Security the Path of Least Resistance
Have you ever pushed a door that needed to be pulled? That frustrating moment isn’t your fault-it’s a design failure.
Security policies fail the same way.
Past client of ours, a fast-growing greentech company, required their field engineers to use a VPN for all remote connections. Few of the engineers complied.
The problem? Their VPN took 45 seconds to connect and frequently disconnected during solar panel inspections.
When we replaced it with a solution that connected in under 5 seconds and maintained stable connections, compliance immediately improved, without a single reminder email.
The principle is clear: When the secure way is also the easiest way, people naturally follow it. So what can you do today?
The 3-Step Formula for Security Policies People Actually Follow
So to summarize:
- Connect every rule to a specific, meaningful risk your team actually cares about - start by identifying your most-ignored security rules and understanding why they matter
- Make secure behavior easier than insecure behavior by removing friction - ask “What makes this hard to follow?” and redesign the process to eliminate that friction
- Test your policies with your biggest critics first and incorporate their feedback
This isn’t magic — it’s simply working with human nature instead of against it.