The problems with rules

[KBCraig]

A friend has been sending me tidbits about leadership from a site called "Hows Matter". Most of it is pretty good, but I thought people here would really appreciate this one:

The Problems with Rules

RULES ARE EXTERNAL
They are made by others. They present us with a puzzle to be solved and loopholes to be found.
WE ARE AMBIVALENT ABOUT RULES
We know we need some and we want others to play by them, but we say, "Rules are meant to be broken."
RULES ARE REACTIVE
They respond to past events.
RULES ARE BOTH OVER- AND UNDERINCLUSIVE
Because they are proxies, they cannot be precise.
PROLIFERATION OF RULES IS A TAX ON THE SYSTEM
Few people can remember them all. We lose productivity when we stop to look them up.
RULES ARE TYPICALLY PROHIBITIONS
They speak to can and can't. We view them as confining and constricting.
RULES REQUIRE ENFORCEMENT
With laxity, they lose credibility and effectiveness. They necessitate expensive bureaucracies of compliance.
RULES SPEAK TO BOUNDARIES AND FLOORS BUT CREATE INADVERTENT CEILINGS
We can't legislate "The sky's the limit."
THE ONLY WAY TO HONOR RULES IS TO OBEY THEM EXACTLY
They speak to coercion and motivation. The inspiration to excel must come from somewhere else.
TOO MANY RULES BREEDS OVERRELIANCE
We think, "If it mattered, they would have made a rule."

[Jim Johnson]

Is there a Rule that says I have to read that?

[Tom Sawyer]

Is there a Rule that says I have to read that?

Questioning the rules?   That's a paddlin'.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFgR0m-9FmM