Before you complain about a rule, try enforcing it for a day. You’ll usually see why it exists.

RESILIENCE

WHAT THIS MEANS

Rules look arbitrary from outside and obvious from inside. Whoever enforces one has usually seen what happens without it, more than once, and that history is invisible to everybody who only has to follow it. Spend a day on the other side and the reasoning tends to show up fast. Some rules genuinely are pointless, and you will spot those quicker too.

Ask the person who enforces the rule you dislike what it exists to prevent. Listen to the whole answer. If it still makes no sense, you now have a specific question worth raising instead of a complaint.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Would you understand that rule better from the enforcing side?

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