{"id":563,"date":"2008-01-03T08:57:33","date_gmt":"2008-01-03T15:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/03\/only-suckers-follow-the-rules\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T03:14:03","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T10:14:03","slug":"only-suckers-follow-the-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/03\/only-suckers-follow-the-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Only Suckers Follow the Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

This a guest post written by Chrissy of The Executive Assistant\u2019s Toolbox<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to make a confession: I like rules. I\u2019m not kidding. I really love them. I adore boundaries and policies \u2013 anything that helps me believe I\u2019m on-track. There\u2019s a certain comfort in knowing that I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m supposed to be doing; I\u2019m headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n

It was only a few years ago that I started to realize the direction<\/a><\/em> I was heading wasn\u2019t really mine. It had been mapped out for me by some big, invisible ‘rule maker\u2019 \u2013 the same genius I had allowed to run my life for the last twenty-eight years; the one who had gotten me into a perfectly average job, working for a perfectly lousy boss, making perfectly standard pay. Yep, that ‘rule-maker\u2019 sure had the smarts.<\/p>\n

It was hard at first, realizing that playing by the rules had led me to a totally boring, average existence. I had done what I was supposed to do \u2013 I went to college, I graduated, I got a corporate job and got promoted quickly. I had, by all definitions, followed the rules.<\/p>\n

But then it suddenly hit me like a frying pan across the head \u2013 Duh! What did I think would happen? How can blindly following the rules, neglecting to challenge conventional wisdom, and mindlessly going with the flow get you anywhere but smack dab in the middle? Sure, you probably won\u2019t fail miserably (which is the part that I once found so comforting) but you probably won\u2019t succeed beyond your wildest dreams either. You\u2019ll just be one of the masses of people following the rules, headed in the same general direction, mapped out by some faceless, arbitrary ‘rule-maker\u2019.<\/p>\n

Facing the Facts<\/h2>\n

It may seem like an obvious concept now, but the idea that being a ‘follower-of-the-rules\u2019 actually makes you a sucker was something that completely rocked my world. After all, I was a straight A student. I was teacher\u2019s pet (what I wouldn\u2019t do for one of those stupid gold stars!). I cry when I think of stolen elections and corporate corruption. I want to scream, \u201cThat\u2019s not fair!\u201d when I hear of sports heroes taking performance enhancing drugs. When I see someone run a red light I have an impulsive desire to make a citizen\u2019s arrest. I believe in the rules. I believe they exist to keep us safe. I hate, hate, hate to see them broken.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s just the problem: the rules keep us safe. While that\u2019s great on the road, it can be deadly in your career. Safe is the opposite of risky. In business, without risk, you probably won\u2019t find reward. Safe is the middle ground. It isn\u2019t cutting edge, it isn\u2019t experimental. It\u2019s ho-hum, everyday, tastes-like-chicken boring. Following the rules will probably always keep you in the ‘protected zone\u2019 \u2013a few steps above failure and a few steps below success. It\u2019s not a bad place to be. But it\u2019s certainly not where I want to be.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s taken me a while to reconcile my feelings here. I have two very different sides of my personality that have fought a long, hard battle over this issue: the compulsive rule-follower who wants a pat on the head for doing exactly what she\u2019s told; and the ambitious professional who wants to be recognized as a leader and an entrepreneur. And let\u2019s face it: the two don\u2019t really mesh. As Pulitzer Prize-winning author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich said, \u201cWell behaved women rarely make history.\u201d<\/p>\n

My Answer<\/h2>\n

So what conclusions have I come to? How does a compulsive rule-follower come to accept that rules are for suckers? This is how I\u2019ve come to see it:<\/p>\n

Rules are important standards to have in place. They just are. Without them, all hell breaks loose. So it\u2019s important to know the rules of the game you\u2019re playing. Whatever career you have, or want to have, you must know what to expect and what is expected of you. The system that is in place is there because it works \u2013 or at least, it did at one time. It\u2019s your job to first understand how it works. It is then your job to understand how it could work better. There is nothing wrong with breaking the rules as long as you know what they are and why you are breaking them. It\u2019s the same reason artists go to school to learn technique \u2013 to then mess with it and create something completely new. Breaking the rules should not be an arbitrary thing \u2013 it should be done with intention for a purpose. You should know what you are doing and why.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to challenge conventional thinking. Don\u2019t be afraid to let your voice be heard, especially if you\u2019re saying something that others aren\u2019t saying. Create your own rules, but do so carefully and thoughtfully. Breaking the rules is fun and empowering, but it shouldn\u2019t be done for these reasons alone. Let a systematic breaking of the rules help get you somewhere not mediocre. Remember that it\u2019s a risk and you may end up on either end of the spectrum. But you likely won\u2019t end up smack dab in the ho-hum, needs-a-little-salt middle.<\/p>\n

This article was written for Scott H. Young by Chrissy. You can visit her anytime at The Executive Assistant\u2019s Toolbox<\/a> where she blogs regularly about professional and personal development. Stop by and check out some of her most popular articles, like Getting Over GTD<\/a> and How to Speak Your Mind (and Keep Your Job)<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This a guest post written by Chrissy of The Executive Assistant\u2019s Toolbox. I\u2019d like to make a confession: I like rules. I\u2019m not kidding. I really love them. I adore boundaries and policies \u2013 anything that helps me believe I\u2019m on-track. There\u2019s a certain comfort in knowing that I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m supposed to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[657,680],"tags":[34],"class_list":{"0":"post-563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-creativity","7":"category-nc-productivity","8":"tag-strategy","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOnly Suckers Follow the Rules - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/03\/only-suckers-follow-the-rules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Only Suckers Follow the Rules - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This a guest post written by Chrissy of The Executive Assistant\u2019s Toolbox. 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