The performance of compliance
Compliance theater is the art of appearing regulated: binders, signatures, annual trainings, and zero change in behavior. The audit passes. The risk stays.
Why theater thrives
Because theater is cheap and compliance is expensive. Real compliance requires power to be challenged — exactly what most organizational cultures quietly discourage.
From theater to practice
Start measuring behavior, not documentation: were the trainings scenario-based, did the IC rehearse, does anyone below the median salary believe reporting works? Documents are the program listing. Behavior is the run.
The One Action: Pick any compliance artifact you signed this year. Ask what behavior it changed.