The rules are there are no rules. – Aristotle Onassis

In the first season of Fargo there’s a memorable scene where Billy Bob Thornton’s character reveals to Martin Freeman’s perpetually downtrodden one a big secret of life. “Your problem is you spent your whole life thinking there are rules. There aren’t,” he explains. Martin’s naive character is stunned by the revelation. Most of us probably began to realize that there is at least some truth to this claim as far back as high school, if not sooner. Once we entered the real world we witnessed time after time how many people pull ahead of the crowd by simply ignoring the rules the rest cling to.

If your business is underperforming it maybe due to a strict adherence to irrelevant rules.

There are few rules you actually need to follow.

Two Sets of Rules

To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise. – Voltaire

If you examine any society or group it becomes hard to deny that there are actually two sets of rules at play. First, there’s the very long list of rules the majority has been programmed to follow religiously and which it believes are cast in stone. We call the first set the “Do as I say, not as I do” rules. Second, there is the far shorter list of rules that only applies to those at the top. Keep in mind that those at the top crafted both sets.

Rules for the most part are simply a list of “No, you can’ts.” No, you can’t do this, or that, and most of all you can’t do that one! One can make a strong case that the rules the bottom 95% adheres to are little more than a mass delusion designed by their betters to keep them in their place. After all, as we are all taught, good boys and girls always obey them. As someone who attended religious schools for 12 years my classmates and I can remember having it drilled into us daily not to be “Doubting Thomases.” A Doubting Thomas was the worst possible thing you could grow up to be, according to the nuns. Better that you should end up a serial killer than that. My mind always rebelled at this. Why shouldn’t we ask for some evidence? Well, the rules from the top say that you mustn’t question edicts from the top. Capisce?

There are no rules.

Ignore the Rules

Learn the rules like a pro so that you can break them like an artist. – Pablo Picasso

The good news for entrepreneurs is that there’s a lot of money to be made by recognizing that the rules are for everyone else and not you. In most cases, you are far better off not allowing petty restrictions set by others to control you. This reality was first confirmed to me at university when I was trying to launch a campus-based small business consulting service. After writing the business plan and recruiting the initial consultants, I began a six month long ordeal to secure permission from the university. I didn’t get it. Everyone in the administration praised the idea but no one knew who had the actual authority to approve such a program. To make a long story short, one of my business profs, an old and wise gentleman, took me aside and explained that often in life it is better to do something first and apologize later than to wait for permission. This revelation changed my life. The consulting service was up and running within a few weeks.

History, as history itself teaches us, is written by the victors. If you do something that breaks the rules yet succeeds everyone will want to have their picture taken shaking your hand. This includes the authority figures who initially tried to torpedo your plans. If it fails the same people will run you out of town or worse.

Rules are for the interpretation of wise men and obedience of fools. – Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars

The story of how Bill Gates began his rise to world’s richest man is an iconic example of breaking the rules. Bill leased an operating system to giant IBM which he didn’t have. However, he did happen to know someone back in Seattle who he could buy one from. According to the rules adhered to by most people, you can’t sell something you don’t have. If you were to poll people most would tell you that the right thing would have been for Bill to inform IBM that he couldn’t help them in that department.

Here’s another example of breaking the rules. When Reddit was first launched it had no real users. What happens if visitors drop by your community and see no signs of human activity? They leave never to return. So the founders registered dozens of phony accounts to carry on conversations and upvote each other in order to create the illusion of an active community. Today Reddit is billed as “the front-page of the Internet.” By the way this trick is as old as the WWW and was not invented by the Reddit team. (If Reddit catches you with multiple accounts today you will be banned. How’s that for a blatant example of “Do as I say not as I do” rules from those at the top?)

Stop right where you are! You know the score, pal. [If] you’re not cop, you’re little people! – Bryant from Blade Runner

I will share one more quickie with you here. One of the most prominent rules for the masses is that one needs to be very patient about rising through the ranks. In an episode of Mad Men there’s a scene where Don Draper arrives at a restaurant with his date. There he runs into the partner at another much smaller advertising firm which is suddenly competing with Don’s for the big Honda account. The competitor tells him, “The good news I think is that it will be between us. The bad news is that the better man will win.” He then smugly leaves for his table. As Don and his date sit down she asks him who that man is. Don responds, “Some fly I keep swatting away. They haven’t done half of we have, but the minute he declared himself the competition, suddenly we were equal.”

The takeaway here is to declare yourself a serious player and soon you will find yourself growing to fit the description. In many situations you can forget the old rule calling for decades of humble apprenticeship. If you don’t agree just consider the fact that many industries now come and go in under a decade so the “be patient, it’ll take decades to become successful” strategy is officially a fool’s game.

As the old saying goes, the one-eyed man in the land of the blind is king. In the tech sector all that’s required in many cases to succeed is for you to stay one step ahead of your customers.

In Conclusion

If you’re like most people and resistant to even the idea of breaking the rules, you need to accept that those people whose dust you’re eating more than likely broke or bent a few rules. (Consider this. What is one of the most exciting companies out there today? Love it or hate it, it’s Uber. Why? Because it breaks all the rules everywhere it goes.)

If you occasionally come up with ideas for doing business differently but never follow through because you’re concerned about breaking rules, don’t be.  If you don’t someone else will break them and get rich. Business really is warfare minus the bloodshed.

Do not speak to me of rules. This is war! This is not a game of cricket. – Bridge On the River Kwai

To truly succeed in an atmosphere of intense competition you need not only a good product or service but a certain amount of audacity and cunning as well. Rule breakers have both qualities in spades.

Some Great Stories of Breaking the Rules/Problem Solving

If you’re interested in some detailed accounts of entrepreneurs who succeeded by breaking the rules, click below. They’re free and great.

How a fashion company was launched with a white lie at city hall.

How a professional services firm was created out of thin air.

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