“The worst thing about reading new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.” – John Wooden

We have all heard the old saying “Rules are made to be broken.”  Where I understand the thinking that we can go beyond rules and restriction to new discoveries, I fear too many people needlessly break rules just to break them.  Albert Einstein said “You have to know the rules of the game.  And then you have to play better than anyone else.”  Don’t be misguided into thinking that rules are bad or that you need to break them to be free.  To break rules needlessly is not freedom it is rebellion.

 FOR THINKING PEOPLE

Nineteenth century German military theorist Karl Von Clausewitz said “Principles and rules are intended to provide a thinking man with a frame of reference.”  Success-Minded People have been told too many times that rules will restrict them and keep them from true success.  The truth is that there are principles that we must follow to achieve any success.  Those Success-Minded People who have gone before us have discovered things that work – ever time – and have passed those down for us to follow.  The person who ignores the basic principles of success is a fool.  Not being harsh, just factual.

 BE OUTSIDE THE BOX

I am all for people being able to think for themselves and to discover new and inventive ways of achieving success.  As I have said many times, I do not believe we know it all or that all things have been discovered.  However, too often I have seen some hot head go off and do foolish and sometimes hurtful things just because they wanted to “be outside the box”.  Being outside the box is fine if there is a reason to be there.  Most of the time these people have nothing to show for their efforts.  As Winston Churchill said “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” 

 STEPS FOR CHANGE

By no means am I saying that you always follow the rules, but if you are going to step outside you should consider these three things:

1. Are the rules are there for a reason and what is that reason?  If these are laws of the land or company policy you may not be given a choice but to follow them.
2. What is the consequence for breaking the rule?  Again, if this is a legal issue or company policy you may face jail time, a fine or lose your job.  Remember that every decision you make has a consequence.  Success-Minded People look at the consequence first rather than suffer from it.
3. Do you have a better way?  If you want to step outside the rules you better know something better to do.  Many have failed in their journey to success because they spent time, energy and resources fixing something that was not broken.

 HAVE SOMETHING BETTER

Lastly, do not think you are some kind of leader because you do not listen to the direction of others.  T.S. Eliot said “It’s not wise to violate rules until you know how to observe them.”  Rebellion is not a virtue.  Success-Minded People understand that rules or principles are there for a reason and they seek out that reason before they seek to change things.  Many rules can be changed, but the person changing them knows what they are, why they are, what is better, and why it is better.  Change for change sake is never a wise move.

 © 2011 John Patrick Hickey