A board member was angered by the fact that his colleague was using his knowledge of rules of order to successfully advance his own positions and win votes.  As he expressed his frustration to a colleague, the advice he received was: You just have to learn the rules, so you can win the vote next time.

On first look, this seems like sound advice.  If you know the rules, you will be able to use them to fight your opponent more effectively.  You could use the rules to propose motions, as well as motions to amend, postpone, refer, and table.  You could raise points of order and you could even appeal the Chair’s ruling if you disagree with it.

But, on second look, the notion that one must learn the rules in order to “win” is very troubling.  It implies that a low grade proposal may be approved, not due to its merits, but because its proponent is skillful with the rules.  Conversely, it implies that a high quality proposal may be defeated or diluted because its proponent is not skilled in parliamentary procedure.  These possibilities are real and very alarming.  They mean that, in adversarial settings, rules of order can be used as weapons, not only defeating one's opponents, but also potentially undermining the interests of the entire organization.

So is it important to learn the rules?  Perhaps, and you certainly ought to do so if an adversarial climate exists.  However, your long term goal should be to turn your group from being adversarial to being collaborative and principled.  An effective decision-making body will use the rules of order as a tool to help it achieve its primary goals: quality decisions, reached democratically and efficiently. An effective board will not be hijacked by procedural trickery.

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