The Rules

About a year ago I had surgery to remove cataracts.  This morning I visited my eye surgeon for a follow-up.  He noticed there was an eyelash in my right eye and asked me if I would like him to remove it.  I said, “Sure.” 

He then gave me a release form to sign and date.  He told me that whenever he does any “procedure” he first needs a signed release form, even for something as minor as removing an eyelash. That’s the rule. 

I said, “That’s sounds like an unnecessary rule.” 

He agreed.  Then we had a brief discussion about the usefulness (or pointlessness) of certain rules. 

This started me thinking… We are all governed by many, many rules.  For example, traffic lights:  red means “stop,” green means “go,” and orange means “go faster.”  While there is a good reason to follow all (or most) of the rules of driving, we often find ourselves following rules that no longer serve any useful purpose. 

Years ago, I noticed that an employee in my accounting department was on the phone collecting data and writing it down on paper. She had been with my company for two decades. 

“Helen,” I said, “why are you doing it that way?” 

“Because that’s how you told me to do it,” she said. “Don’t you remember, Alan?  I’m following your exact instructions.”  

While she was undoubtedly correct, I had given her those instructions eight years earlier, before we had computers.  I hadn’t thought to update my instructions, which she continued to follow. She was spending an extra hour or two every day — still working under the original rules. 

The list of rules in our lives seems to always expand and never contract.  Rules seldom go away, even if they are entirely out of date or counterproductive. But if rules are meant to improve our lives – to keep us safe, or make us more productive — shouldn’t they evolve along with our changing lives? 

From this I have learned that: 

1. We should be careful in setting rules. 

1. We should encourage ourselves and others to question rules and consider whether they continue to be useful. 

Those are my rules on rules.  The only two, I think, that always matter. 

Will you follow them? 

Alan