Chapter 49. Get Rid of Superfluous Rules

Ha, I can hear you thinking, “He’s shot himself in the foot now. Get rid of superfluous rules, ha, in a book of rules?” Yep, get rid of superfluous rules. Not my rules of course, not your rules of course. Their rules, obviously. Let people on your team know that you are on their side and will streamline any procedures to enhance efficiency. That means old baggage has to go.

In any workplace there will be a mountain of red tape, bureaucracy, old rules left in place from previous management regimes—get rid of them all. Question everything you and your team do and make it work slicker and quicker by getting rid of anything that is redundant, unnecessary, left over. This is the work equivalent of clutter clearing; practice feng shui if you like.

It’s terribly easy to settle into a routine and to stop seeing things with a clear eye, a fresh vision. Every day you have to go into work and see it as an outside consultant would. Question “Why do we do this? Why do we do it like this?” I bet you’ll find a lot of clutter and can eliminate it.

I once worked for a company where every letter going out had to be “vetted” by a senior office secretary. She was a bit of a dragon to say the least, and if you ever got on the wrong side of her, your letters went straight to the bottom of the pile—and stayed there. Why did letters have to be routed through her? Beats me, but I had to work unbelievably hard to get rid of that bit of Dickensian nonsense.

Streamline. Save time. Make your people happier and more trusted. Simple really.