It was a sleepy Monday morning, on a sleepy post when I pulled into the parking lot going the wrong way. There was no traffic anywhere around. To go the correct way, I would have had to drive all the way around spending about 5 minutes. “You’re going the wrong way!” an administrator type lady chastised.
“I know. Thanks!” I said. I didn’t apologize or act like I made a mistake. I deliberately broke the rules because it made sense at the time, in the environment.
Follow the golden rule: Do unto others as you’d have done to you. Forget the others.
Policies, regulations, SOPs and whatever else are subject to be exempted, changed or removed as the situation and mission determines.
I had a commander who used to say, “Three things we follow: moral, legal and ethical. Of those, we’ll never do anything immoral or unethical but legal is subject to change and interpretation. We’ll be very transparent when we’re considering the legality of our actions.”
Be free. Stop preventing you and your organization from achieving greatness because of ineffective rules and policies.
If it makes sense (1), it’s about furthering the mission (2) and it supports the golden rule (3) figure out a way to get past bureaucratic guidelines and get it done.
Thing to consider as you change your life:
Support Your Peeps: Everyone I work with knows I challenge the rules to further the mission. Some people get it, and love it. Some don’t. Your subordinates will love the freedom and follow you. Make sure you always support your subordinates when they are breaking rules on your behalf, particularly when they make mistakes. Send a clear message early that you support your subordinates in the rule breaking, mission advancing endeavor.
You’re Already There: As the PAO, you have the rank or organizational positioning to do what makes the best mission sense. A Captain in a Brigade? Perfect. A Colonel at a 4 Star HQ? Yep, exactly where you need to be.
Check Yourself: Relentlessly avoid rules you or your subordinates make within your own organization. You can’t go around breaking other people’s rules if you maintain a stupid rule book.
Be Transparent: Look the rule purveyors in the eye and say “I’m breaking your rules because…” Maybe they will be glad and help change the rule. Maybe they will open your eyes to a bigger picture where the rule must apply. Either way, if you’re going to break rules have the guts to break them head on. You’ll look bad if you’re seen as doing this in an underhanded way.
Be Ready: Sometimes you’ll get “called to the carpet.” Sometimes you’ll even make a big mistake or two. As long as you are following the golden rule and breaking rules for the right reasons (see why below) then you’re good. Your bosses will get used to your rebellious ways and other staff guys will learn to follow or get out of the way.
Why: Remember you’re doing this to further the mission. You’re not breaking rules just to break them and you’re not doing this out of laziness. If you stay focused on mission, you’ll always be right.
Environment: You can’t blanket break the rules, all the time. You have to understand your environment. As we wrote before, if you’re playing on someone else’s turf, you probably have to obey their rules. Often, it’s about respect and *the golden rule.
Moral and Ethical: Never, ever violate moral and ethical code. Transparent or not, if you’re doing something immoral or unethical you’re not following the golden rule.
I’ve gotten into plenty of trouble with this life approach. It’s fun but make sensible decisions and obey the important rules as aggressively as you break the others.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Ashley Savage
