Rules Is For Fools
Rules Is For Fools
In My Bloodstream: Lisinopril, Amlodopine, Omeprazole, Tamsulosin
On The Stereo: Everybody Knows: Rufus Wainwright
When common sense fails, make a rule. This must have been somebody's brilliant idea. Years ago. And so it continues today. And will be perpetuated tomorrow.
From the womb, out we pop. Then someone gives you a smack and makes you cry. Welcome to our world, my child. And so it begins. Given the passing of hours, days and months, you are eventually introduced to the constant which will follow you all the rest of the days of your life. Rules.
With the help of loving parents, you will be guided by a series of requests, designed to help you through life. "Say Mama. Say Dada. Eat some food. Crawl to me. Take a step. Go potty." And these suggestions, if followed, will reap rewards. Parental joy, hugs, an "attaboy" or "attagirl". Nice things, all. Positive reenforcement. How lovely.
Trust me on this. All of this sweet stuff does not last long. You will not be very old before you will hear something like, "If you don't eat your meat, you will not get dessert". This will be your first peek as to how the rest of your life will evolve.
Your life will forevermore be governed by rules. And every level of government will be involved in telling you how you will live your life. You will learn, over time, that freedom - real freedom - does not actually exist. And almost all positive reinforcement will be flushed away along with your last disposable diaper.
We have rules for absolutely everything. Your first real world exposure will be given when you begin school. You will be told when to show up. When you can go to the bathroom. When you can speak. You will walk in lines. You will not squirm in you seat. You will pay attention. You will obey your teacher. You will be given more work to do at home. You will be told when you may go home. And will you be thanked for maintaining these imposed standards? Will you be rewarded with a candy? Not likely, my friend. Requests directed your way will end in a real, or implied, "or else". Welcome to our world, kid.
And it becomes ever worse. Families have their rules, Communities have rules. And governments are so self-important, their rules are called "laws". And if you hope that any of these people have ever heard of positive anything, not a chance. Punishment is the very foundation of laws..
If you break a law, you will likely be fined. If you have no money to pay the fine, then you likely will be arrested and perhaps jailed. That certainly makes finding or earning the required money quite difficult. And will this methodology create a better world? The biggest experiential lesson learned might well be don't get caught next time.
Laws, or rules, should be conceived to enhance the lives of many. To give us guidance and keep us safe. Instead, they often result from the stupidity of a few, or even a single person. Jaywalking would be a case in point. At some time, someone crossed a street and was likely hit by a car. To curb anyone else from being stupid (and getting hurt), a law was enacted. Now, if you risk your life crossing a busy street, you can be fined. If you believe this is a resolved solution, go to any major city in this, or any country, and see if anyone still crosses a traffic-rich street. Nonstop, my friend. But now we have a punitive law which was designed to eliminate risk by careless people, which does not work. The examples are endless.
If you want to see the extreme, have a gander at the U.S. Tax Code. Law after law. Rule after rule. One added after another, to the point that the original is unrecognizable. Politicians are want to tell you that they want all your money, so they pass convoluted bills which differ in style and content, but are designed, without doubt, to steal as much of your money as they can, without wearing a mask. And now, they actually do wear masks. We should have expected this.
Interesting, loopholes are buried everywhere inside the tax code. Why? Perhaps so the people who write the laws, as well as wealthy donors, lawyers and lobbyists, are left some wiggle room. All of us are not treated equally. Call me if you disagree, and I will give you examples which are not debatable.
Enough about serious issues. I only started here, so that I could promote my personal rules.
Along the way, in my business life, I learned that it was important to get "buy in" from any involved group, when you are trying to move the culture or direction of the business. Implementation of a new strategic plan might be the the penultimate example.
One might believe that if you write it down or say it out loud, that should do the trick. But it does not. At least in my experience. If the expectation is that we need to all believe in what we intend to do and that we, as a group, all need to be involved in the execution of that plan, simply handing them a copy will not work. Or at least it will not be as effective as the alternative. The alternative?
If we meet and discuss the new idea seven times, the concept will become imbedded in the minds of those in attendance. Osmosis. The plan will become their plan. Not just yours. With a belief in "their plan" and the commitment that follows, success is much more assured. And people actually feel involved. And better for it.
Our little sales group at AFFLINK dubbed it Robin's Rule of 7. When we decided on an improved strategy for our company, we all needed to understand and be aligned in our purpose. Now, I was not the author of the idea of seven times. At least I don't think so. Somewhere, sometime, in some class, I must have bought in to this idea. And then later on, in our company, it had become "my" idea. And likely, and hopefully, with time, the idea of many.
The point of all this? When we had success as a company, it was also the success of every single employee. They owned the plan and they felt good, personally, when the results showed the predicted improvement .
As an aside, I once, long ago, discussed this idea with a business-owner friend of mine. He said his way was easier. He told his staff what to do and if he had to do it twice, he replaced them. To each his own. His way worked too.
And funny things always happen in meetings. Thankfully. At one of our first sales meetings, when we talked about where we could take the company, one of our managers didn't question the grandiosity of the idea, he simply said, 'We're going to need a bigger boat". I was lost. "What?", I said. And he explained his reply. He made us all laugh. Thank you, Clyde. You are still one of the good ones.
What has all of this nonsense got to do with rules and laws? Obviously one can be fired for performance, or, in fact, for the lack of. Or for conduct misbecoming. Those are aptly derived business laws. But, more importantly, we expected people to be "good". To respect our company and to be proud of being a part of its accomplishments.
With much help from friends like Peggy Collins, we ensured that people would not feel threatened by making a mistake. Everyone had the right to do whatever we thought to be the right thing. Even at a financial cost to the company. We may not have always succeeded, but we sincerely tried to make each person an "owner" of all we set out to do. Our intent was not to fire anyone for making a "bad" decision. We hoped, that with discussion, we would all improve our skills.
We tried to operate a business on good will and the goodness within us all. And we were very successful, in those days. I hope that feeling is shared by all that were there. Our business, which was our community, in microcosm, believed in the theory of positive reenforcement. And I believe to this day, that it worked.
We are a nation of laws. Some of our laws, especially in the scope of crime and punishment, need to be reviewed. A small dose of Robin's Rule of 7 might be applied. I do not believe that you can "beat" someone into being a better person.
If you are still asking yourself about "the bigger boat", call Clyde, or give me a shout.
Moving On
I would be derelict in my duty if I did not mention golf.
Robin's New Rules Of Golf
1. Hit the ball.
2. Find the ball.
3. Repeat as necessary.
Shouldn't be any simpler that this.
From Florida-
Kat continues to teach. In school, with no pandemic issues. So far. I continue to be house-bound, and it is wearing thin. I sometimes have to search for my last nerve. I refuse to watch television during the day. My brain is already too soft. I do read and write. I sometimes tweak our photo library. We have 19,172 pictures, which I scanned into our computer, all those many times that I was relegated to our home, between surgeries.
And of course I listen to music. I transferred a measly 7,739 songs from records and disks. And I created thirteen genres, and one other dedicated to my favorite playlist. I could have been a librarian.
Today I visited with my plastic surgeon at Moffitt. I had some stitches removed by my friend, Andrea, the physician's assistant and then the three of us discussed my most recent pathology report.
We will do six more excisions, one much more serious than the others. My melanoma has returned on my back, to a significant depth. As a result, in addition to its excision, we will do a search for any reaction in my lymph nodes. I will receive an injection of radioactive dye at the melanoma site, followed by a full body scan. Any nodes showing cancerous activity, will be surgically revealed and biopsied.
Obviously this will all be done under anesthesia. I was warned that the day will be long and the recovery longer. I can't wait for the appointment call, as soon as they have secured the operating theater. This should take my mind off the pandemic for a while.
I am not alone. We have some friends and family who today, have their own struggles with cancer. Be assured we think of you often and you share a place in our hearts. Be strong. Have faith. Rise above.
And now I need to get out for a while.
Depending on surgery schedules, see you next week.
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