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Break the Rules

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else."
  --- Albert Einstein

Regardless of which political party you belong to or which man you voted for to be President of the United States, we can all agree that many of the changes that need to be implemented affecting our businesses will be painful. The new health care law is one example. Most agree that changes are needed and that there are people suffering due to wacky insurance coverage, poor medical care due to doctors fearing two-bit attorneys, and soaring prices for health coverage. There are rules that will kick in soon and most businesses will have to comply or be fined.

The good news is that these are rules and the nature of business people is to bend ever so slightly these rules. It is not breaking them, but just tweaking them for adjustment purposes. I am not for breaking the law. Laws are put in place to protect us. I am only suggesting that, and this has been proven throughout history, manipulating some rules like a Gumby doll is often times very healthy.

"Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something."
  --- Thomas A. Edison

Some businesses such as the restaurant Applebee's, construction firms, agricultural outfits, and even hospitals are reducing the hours of workers now so that they will be seen as part-time in the eyes of the government, so that the business will not be ordered by the government to provide health coverage for all their employees. This is bending the rules. This is applying adaptation methods for the sake of the business. This is a clever way to keep the business surviving and providing for the families of its existing workers.

There are other rules that can be bent as well. We've all used creative thinking to do it and we've all applied ingenuity to use rules for the greater good. This just comes natural for wise business people. They see an obstacle and devise ways for going around it, over it, under it, or removing it altogether.

"If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun."
  --- Katherine Hepburn

Think of the rules that you face everyday. Are they rules that can be bent for the benefit of your business? Some rules are self-imposed. They are not handed down from any authority, but through folklore or wives' tales. You may have heard the story about the wife that cut the ends of a roast off before putting it in the oven. Her husband questions why she does this as it seems like a waste. The wife doesn't know why, so she calls her mother who taught her this trick and her mother doesn't know. Her mother then calls the grandmother and the secret is revealed. The grandmother replies, "I had to cut off the ends because back then, the roast wouldn't fit in our small oven."

"The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions."
  --- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Look at the rules you force yourself to follow everyday. If you don't understand them, if they are hurting you and your business, get rid of them or find a way to bend them. Remember these are rules we are talking about and not laws, so don't be calling me from jail to bail you out!

"If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today."
  --- Thomas Sowell