Policy Decomposition

After this lesson, the reader should understand:

• 01Apply a repeatable decomposition pass to an instrument.
• 02Separate operative content from recital and explanation.
• 03Record ambiguity as a finding rather than a private assumption.

A twelve-page leave policy

How much of a typical HR policy is operative, and how much is context?

In practice the operative content is a small fraction of the text. Most of a policy is purpose, tone, and explanation — necessary for a reader, inert for a machine. Decomposition separates the two without discarding either, and the exercise routinely reveals that two operative rules in the same document contradict each other. That finding is the value of the pass, not a side effect of it.

• Who owns the resolution of a discovered contradiction?
• Should decomposition findings be published with the artifact?
• How much context should survive into the artifact?

Decompose one page of a real instrument.

1. 01Highlight operative sentences only.
2. 02Extract every defined term used.
3. 03Rewrite each rule as condition plus outcome.
4. 04Log every question you could not answer from the text.

• Legal informatics — structural markup of legislation.
• Requirements elicitation methods.
• Deontic logic — obligation, permission, prohibition.