Here are 10 rules for business rules. This was presented last week at the 3rd annual RulesFest conference. Click http://bizrules.com/10rulesforrules.htm for more info, and to hear a recording of the 7 minute presentation.

1. 10 Rules for Rules
Rolando Hernandez
Founder & CEO
BIZRULES

2. You live in a knowledge-
based world.
Knowledge capital is your
most valuable asset
You are facing a
knowledge deficit
Like it or not,
You are in the
Knowledge Wars™.
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3. Imagine there’s
No Architecture,
No Rules, and
No Knowledge…
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4. 10 Rules for Rules
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5. Clear
Instances Logic Meaning
Data Rules Terms Facts
Process
Do
Sequential Activity , Procedure , Code
Decide The Moment of Truth Know Concepts Ontology , Relationships , Semantic Map
IF / THEN
Think Reasoning
Ruleset Decision Table / Tree
Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) Rulebase Hierarchy
Infer Inference Global Rules
reuse
Conclude Deduction , Induction Local Rules
Backward / Forward Chaining Specialize
Single / Multi Fire Single / Multiple Inheritance
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6. Clear… not Confusing

7. Complete
May 13, 2008: Parents board Air Canada flight,
forget 23-month-old toddler at airport
Aug. 4, 2008: Couple remember their duty free and 18
suitcases, but forget 3-year-daughter at airport
Because they were Lap Children they were not
issued boarding passes, and thus airline personnel
did not notice a passenger was missing
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8. Correct
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9. Current
Healthcare rules
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10. Compliant
Internal External
Policies Laws
Practices Rules
Procedures Regulations
Processes
Rules
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11. Condensed
DAG and Decision Tree
To see a Flash video of the “Decision Tree vs. DAG RuleMap”, visit www.RuleMap.com
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12. Credible…
not Incredible
• Gene and Paulette Cranick’s house burned down.
• Three dogs died in the fire. 
• A small town fire dept. in Tennessee was ordered to let the
house burn down because the owner had not paid the $75
subscription fee. He forgot to pay the bill.
• The rule to let it burn was incredible and hard to justify.
• What if people were inside the home?
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13. Careful…
not Careless
• Anne Bartlett paid her local taxes for 41 years.
• In Jan. 2010 she called 911 at 1AM.
• DeKalb County (GA) Fire Dept. responded. They didn’t see any
smoke, didn’t get out of the fire truck, and left 5 minutes later.
• 6 hours later Ann’s house burned down. She died.
• Firefighters did not follow proper procedures & rules.
• They were careless. Four firefighters were fired.
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14. Common Sense
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15. Consistent…
not Inconsistent
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16. Thanks for your time!
Rolando Hernandez
Founder & CEO
BIZRULES
972-987-1685
BizRules.com
VisibleKnowledge.com
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