Rules are for OTHER People

Rules are for other people.   That is not to say that the rules do not apply to me- but rather I do not need them.  Over the almost 5 decades of my life I have been around places and people with many rules.  For the most part I have lived within them or at least within the spirit of them.  However, I really did not need them.  Employee manuals are full of "do not dos".  I suppose those may seem needed, but mostly those rules get listed more as a protection in court than an aid to the organization.    Seriously, do you need a rule that states you must show up for work to get paid?  Do you need a rule that says you cannot shoot your boss?  Do you need a rule that states you should not steal from your employer?  It seems so clear to me - but in actuality it may not be that clear.

I suppose sometime, someone, somewhere said "my boss is a jerk - I have the right to carry a gun and I think I will shoot him.  Management thinks that might cause morale problems, so a policy is written forbidding  the shooting of the boss.  Do not get me wrong, since I lead a sales team, I am all for NOT shooting the boss, but if I have done such a poor job with people that one of them wants to shoot me then I do not think a rule in a manual will be much help.

Think of all the rules around you that do not make sense.  Before someone says isn't that what the conservatives say? Too many regulations stops work?  No, those are regulations that are intended to protect MOST of us from SOME of us - there is a big difference.  Rules are designed as a threat - kinda like a parent - "You  better stop before I count to THREE!"  Oh No, PLEASE don't count to three!!

The rules I am talking about are the ones that cause the very problem they are designed to fix.  Employee manuals are needed because it is easier to write a manual than train managers.  Dress codes are easier to write for school kids than actually talking with the children & parents about the right kind of dress.  But IS simple and easy - the better solution?  I doubt it.  I remember once in high school that I was given a one day suspension for being 5 minutes late for school.  It did not matter to the administration that I was late because I had been at work PRIOR to school (you could do that in the 1970's).  That particular morning I was cutting up potatoes @ McDonald's so that those veggies could become McFries.  Perhaps the rules were changed at McDonald's and french fries were made from frozen - just so some kid would not get in trouble at school.  Whatever the reason - it did not make sense - miss 5 minutes of school - get sent home for the remaining 7 plus hours.  Gotta enforce the rules or chaos will come about.  Chaos like - kids will be working more and missing homeroom and we all know what that leads to - right?  Actually we have no idea - probably need a rule on that.

I tell my daughters that rules are for other people - not them.  I tell them that - NOT because they can do as they please without regard for others - I tell them that because THEIR internal compass that their mother, our friends, our teachers, our neighbors and I have attempted to instill in them WILL be enough guiding force.  The rule book should be for others - people need to be @ a level above any rules, without reward.  The reward for doing good - is simply DOING GOOD.  The issue is most people MUST live in a consequence world - without those potential punishments many will not live within reasonable lines.  As for me - I don't need the 10 Commandments to guide me - I already know what to do.  I do not need a speed limit sign and the potential for a citation to know that I should not drive 85 on the interstate or 45 in  a residential area.  I do not need a rule that says I cannot scream at my employees.  I do not need a rule that says I cannot beat my wife and kids.  Rules are for other people - not me.  I know how to live - I do not need the threat of Hell to make me want to do something.  If people do need the threat of punishment in order to live a right kind of life - then perhaps they don't need rules - they need ---so very much more - and unfortunately most people cannot or will not govern themselves - so we make more rules.  Those of us that do not need them - just laugh and say - I already knew that.... Those aren't just my thoughts from almost 50 years - those are the thoughts of the learned since the beginning of time.  Maybe that should be a rule....