Rules are made to be broken
That’s one of those often incorrectly attributed and misquoted quotes. Here’s the “full monty” and who REALLY said it…
Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind.
– General Douglas MacArthur
I’m a big MacArthur fan. For a variety of reasons, but mainly because, like the general, I too have problems with authority. Neither of us like to be told what to do, how to do it or when to do it.
MacArthur graduated from West Point as the #1 student in his class. Later in his career he served as the superintendent of West Point as well as chief of staff of the United States Army.
His military career was long and distinguished. How distinguished? Well, the guy literally received every medal and honor the United States can give a soldier. So there’s that.
Yet General MacArthur frequently clashed with political leaders. To the point where President Truman warned him multiple times not to disagree with government policy. MacArthur continued to disagree and break the rules AND get this… He even told the media when he did!
Furthermore, MacArthur often gave orders that were NOT approved by his “boss” aka the commander-in-chief aka the president. Ultimately their frequent clashes led to President Truman dismissing him.
A funny thing happened after that…
In 1946 MacArthur was named the greatest living American and Truman’s approval rating plummeted to a record low of 22%. A low that hasn’t been beaten beat by any president since and was even lower than Nixon’s after Watergate.
MacArthur won and won a lot. His leadership essentially saved Japan, The Philippines and South Korea from peril.
You don’t graduate from West Point #1 in your class without learning how to follow the rules. But an important part of making significant progress in anything is knowing WHEN to break the rules.
Coincidentally MacArthur is also famous for the saying
You are remembered for the rules you break.
Breaking the rules… That’s the topic being discussed right now inside my Yesterday’s Underdog community.
Why?
Because defying industry norms and breaking rules is the theme of my June newsletter. It’s so important I took an 18 page deep dive into why and how you should do the opposite of what everyone else in your industry does.
This information is pure gold and can grow your results exponentially while elevating and separating you from your competition.
*Correction: I should say THEM (as in my beloved Underdogs) not “you” because you aren’t a paid member.
Not yet at least.
If you’re not getting the results you want, understand this…
You’re not going to have something different unless you DO something different.
And THIS just might be the “something different” missing from your business…
http://www.YesterdaysUnderdog.com
But hey, don’t just take it from me. Hear all about it from member Jon Rennie below…