Today I met with a brilliant engineer … an expert, who’s being harassed by a few bureaucrats who want him to play by tighter rules.
This respected leader in his field, described outmoded tenets that block creativity … compromise progress … and create one-size-fits-all, where he works. 
Have you seen it happen?
No question … it’s cool to cling to rules if a traffic light turns red - and another car boots your way in rush hour. But rigidity rarely allowed Einstein to think or act like Einstein. He openly denounced most 'legalities" in favor of investigation and growth. You?
Rigid rules that look logical on first glance … can:
1. Shut out brainpower because they were written for another era.
2. Exclude people of different backgrounds, races, and beliefs.
3. Prevent leaders in the field from planting new seeds where old ones died.
4. Draw from one or two talents only … and ignore multiple intelligences.
5. State definitions to back petty points … and miss bigger pictures of innovation.
No question, laws come backed with rigid definitions ... and most find people who'll pound them home in slam dunk style.
Rules may keep people from being killed at intersections … but they often kill people at the intersections of risk, mental dynamite and intellectual genius.
What rules do you keep … and what rules do you break? Do you pound new neuron pathways to improvement and creativity beyond rigid rules at your workplace?
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