These are simply rules to guide the behavior of the people involved, so that a consistent direction can be maintained, and the goals of the organization most easily achieved. Clearly, people up and down the line of authority cannot make their own rules as they go along, or else problems would result.
Any intelligent person can see the value of policy-making.
The point is that, on occasion, an exception to a policy not only would work to your benefit, but it might even benefit the organization, or at least not work to its detriment. Your task is to determine what occasions justify a change in policies and how to get people to implement them. Any good bureaucrat, or any employee on a lower level, knows that taking the initiative to make a logical and imaginative variation in policy brings about little or no glory if it works, but can bring about havoc if it fails. I just implement them. It is amazing how many people cave in under the circumstances.