KNOW WHEN TO BREAK THE RULES

This is actually the final Rule from The Rules of Work – the very first Rules book – and received several nominations. However it’s applicable to every book in the series and I thought it would be helpful to include it here as an end note...

Life doesn’t run to a neat and infallible formula. Sometimes the unexpected happens. And the true Rules Player has the confidence, the understanding and the presence of mind to recognise those moments and to break the Rules.

Many excellent and committed Rules Players I meet start out following every Rule slavishly. When you’re first setting out, this is a sensible approach. After all, the alternative is complacency and an assurance that ‘I can do this stuff’, which certainly isn’t true. None of us finds every situation effortless. It may be clear what we should do, but that doesn’t always mean it’s easy. And sometimes we’re not even sure which way to go.

So, by all means start out taking each Rule seriously. That’s the general idea. However, as you become more comfortable and self-assured as a Rules Player, and begin to develop sound instincts for Rules behaviour, you can begin to loosen up. Many of the Rules will become automatic and you’ll no longer have to think about them. And once you reach this stage, you’ll find that occasionally, just occasionally, one of the Rules really isn’t quite appropriate.

It’s no good persuading yourself a Rule doesn’t fit because you’d much rather not have to follow it. You need to be clear and objective. But when your instincts genuinely tell you to break a Rule, then go for it.

Personally, I find that there’s rarely a need to break a Rule. It’s not a daily occurrence, or even a weekly one (at least not on purpose – of course, I’m not perfect and I still look back on my day and feel I should have handled some bits of it better). But I do break them occasionally. For example, a Rules Player never deliberately belittles other people in public, but about twice in my life I’ve encountered people who really needed to be belittled in public to stop them from doing it to others, and I’ve been happy to oblige.

Look, in the end it’s about gut feeling. Follow the Rules until they’re so ingrained they become instinct, and then trust your instincts. If you refer back to the Rules from time to time (not only these Rules but others you encounter in life too) to make sure you’re not forgetting or misinterpreting them, and you work on the ones you find tricky, you can be confident that in time your instincts will serve you better than any book.

FOLLOW THE RULES UNTIL
THEY’RE SO INGRAINED THEY
BECOME INSTINCT, AND THEN
TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS