Breaking rules *also* is effective in communication and building consensus. Think of the norms we follow in business meetings, in clean shirts being polite listening to PowerPoint, and how little often gets done. Think of how polite we are in responding to unwanted sales calls or emails. In our heads, we know what we want to say, but we keep it inside. Decorum breeds dishonesty, which stalls progress or constructive decisions.
Sean Howard has a great post about shaking up a board room by giving execs crayons and blank paper. http://www.seanhoward.ca/2008/06/the-role-of-se... He broke a few unwritten laws that day, but moved a team through paralysis to new insights.
So here's to breaking chains. I'm gonna speed on the way home.
Doug Firebaugh
· 1 year ago
Great post Chris- now if we can just change the inner laws that we live our lives by and let the REAL person emerge vs being limited to what we have been told to be- Awesome post-and GREAT insight- thanks!
TimWalker
· 1 year ago
Thought-provoking stuff, Chris. It's always a challenge to see the world through new eyes, but we *must* do this if we ever want to break out of ruts -- including the most pernicious ones, the ruts we don't think to *regard* as ruts.
Many, many organizations suffer from "organosclerosis" precisely because the people in them don't pull back and reconsider *why* the rules are what they are. WHY do we have weekly staff meetings? WHY must we use the new cover sheets on the T.P.S. reports? WHY do we have quarterly evaluations instead of, say, fortnightly evaluations?
It's not that every one of these things needs changing, but that every one of them ought to come up for review. Otherwise, how else can we move ahead?
Thanks for your thoughts here.
Meryl Steinberg
· 1 year ago
Yes. By all means take time to look around, yet don't forget to take time to sit quiet & look within. I love that Sean Howard put blank paper and crayons in the hands of execs in the boardroom. For those who are not immersed full time in the twitter/facebook/podcamp etc world of Web2.0/E2.0 yadda yadda...the complexity is starting to look disconnected, chaotic--and therefore unknowable--rather then knowable and capable of categorizing and responding. Don't just follow a rule/law or crowd Give some thought to what is going on. Consider how it all gives value to yourself...and to others.
Dave Saunders
· 1 year ago
Great post. Having a clear value system (recognition of laws) is so important and I like to describe it like a Compass. Breaking a rule may be acceptable if you know it's going to still take you North.
All Comments
Sean Howard has a great post about shaking up a board room by giving execs crayons and blank paper. http://www.seanhoward.ca/2008/06/the-role-of-se... He broke a few unwritten laws that day, but moved a team through paralysis to new insights.
So here's to breaking chains. I'm gonna speed on the way home.
Many, many organizations suffer from "organosclerosis" precisely because the people in them don't pull back and reconsider *why* the rules are what they are. WHY do we have weekly staff meetings? WHY must we use the new cover sheets on the T.P.S. reports? WHY do we have quarterly evaluations instead of, say, fortnightly evaluations?
It's not that every one of these things needs changing, but that every one of them ought to come up for review. Otherwise, how else can we move ahead?
Thanks for your thoughts here.