Breaking Rules for Better Outcomes: The Merits of Constructive Dissent

Those who know me well will not be surprised that I am a rule-breaker.

I am not reckless or irresponsible about it. Guided by my values and heartfelt drive for better outcomes, I often lead in rule-breaking and defying expectations.

To be clear, I am not promoting unlawful or radical behaviour. I’m talking of constructive dissent, a product of independent thinking and action, stemming from a moral core. Not law-breaking or mindless disregard for societal norms.

Some of you may be thinking ‘buts’ - rules are there for a purpose, are for our own good, they help maintain a civil society. And so on.

Yes, but some rules don’t serve us and need to be challenged.

To develop and evolve, we need people willing to be different, push boundaries, and strive for better.

As Todd Kashdan, psychology professor, researcher and author of The Art of Insubordination , says:

a non-conformist’s spirit fuels incremental progress across society, making daily life more efficient, productive, prosperous, safer, and just plain better.” p. 40.

I often flout administrative rules no longer fit for purpose, that incur an unnecessary administrative burden, developed by people who never need to implement them.

For example, in a change leadership role, I had to complete a form to flag impending organisational change and impacts. It was ill-suited for people and process change and included several sections only relevant to technical initiatives.

I streamlined the impractical form to capture the changes I was leading. This eliminated the need for large blocks of N/A entries, making it concise, clear and targeted for the benefit of signatories. It also potentially helped expedite processing.

The form developer was away on leave and my version seemed like a fair compromise to the person acting. Yet – I heard that once the original developer returned, the original form was reinstated. Back to status quo.

Obviously, we don’t always get to break rules like these, especially when dealing with bureaucracies.

Yet sticking to established rules can waste resources, limit innovation, and potentially compromise our wellbeing.

Why Breaking Rules Can Move Us Forward

Social psychologist, researcher and author, Dr Ellen Langer makes a compelling, research-based case for questioning rules in The Mindful Body .

I believe that breaking the rules is often necessary. Too often, we follow rules mindlessly…When we approach the rules mindfully … we realise they are often arbitrary and don’t make sense.” p. 4.

Citing a personal example, Langer questions the rule that prescribes visitors must leave hospital at 7pm, as she was expected to do when visiting her mother. She suggests that while this rule may once have been thought beneficial for both patients and staff, now it seems contrary to extensive evidence showing the importance of social support for our health. Accordingly, Dr Langer ignored the rule and the staff looked the other way.

Yet we often continue to follow rules, even when they do not serve us or have outlived their usefulness. Langer posits that labels we apply to ourselves might be one reason. To reinforce this idea she cites several studies, including research showing that priming older adults with negative stereotypes about aging and memory led to worse performance on recall and recognition tests. This suggests that making predictions based on labels or stereotypes can potentially constrain our performance and risk becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

How To Go About It

Ellen Langer advocates that we engage in mindful noticing ; actively noticing new things.

When you actively notice new things that puts you in the present. It makes you sensitive to context, and the act of noticing is experienced as engagement.

Dr Langer cautions that we can easily become mindless, conforming and blindly accepting what is, assuming givens and certainty. In doing so, we may cease to recognise change and other possible alternatives.

There is little stopping us from redesigning the world to better fit our current needs rather than using yesterday to determine today and tomorrow. p. 231.

Todd Kashdan suggests that our limited brain processing capacity and our cognitive biases mean that it is less effortful and feels more comfortable to dismiss perspectives that differ from our existing? worldview.

The solution, he says, is principled insubordination;

… a brand of deviance intended to improve society with a minimal amount of secondary harm. p.10.

The key here is that bucking the system or going against majority opinion or rules should be engaged in for our greater good, not simply for your own benefit; engaged in by “rebels with integrity and ethical standards.” p. 11.

I think of this as independent thinking and action, that stems from a moral core. It is not about breaking the law or mindless disregard for societal norms.

Being willing to think differently, to test reality and dissent, in a disciplined way, supports creativity, fosters diversity and fuels innovation. Over time, exposure to dissenting ideas or divergent actions can foster fresh perspectives and help, Kashdan suggests,

groups become better than the sum of their parts. p. 50.

The Case for Constructive Dissent

As I hope you have gathered, breaking rules isn't about random, ‘because I can’ defiance. It's about mindful dissent and principled insubordination. It's about questioning the outdated, challenging the unnecessary, and pushing boundaries for a more innovative, efficient, and just society.

As Ellen Langer says:

When we recognise that rules, labels, and cut off points are made by people, there is lots of room to question … The key is to question those things we mindlessly accept, to mindfully interrogate all of the descriptions and diagnoses that can hold us back.” p.16 - 17.

She argues that the stakes for not doing so escalate when you, or those you care about, mindlessly accept medical data and diagnoses that sound definitive, yet obscure margins of uncertainty and human variation. When being willing to challenge (or not) can determine our future. Indeed, I am sure that my mother’s demise was hastened by our unquestioning acceptance of a medical opinion, that, in retrospect, was only that – sending her off peremptorily to palliative care.

And how we take action needs to come from the right place. This means practising Langer’s mindful noticing, making openness our default, as Kashdan urges, and, being prepared to persist.

It takes courage to stand out, be vulnerable and withstand pushback, and heart to stick to your why.

The benefits? We can develop new perspectives, tolerate uncertainty, open to new perspectives and, as both psychologists acknowledge, extend our possibilities.

Ultimately, we gain autonomy and

… the positive effects of the capacity to change our minds, create options and decide among them, and live with control and ownership over our lives.

Ellen Langer, 2023, p. 216.

This is why I will always be willing to break rules.

Readers - I’m keen to hear your tales of intentionally breaking rules or dissenting, constructively, for a greater good.

Please comment below and share with your network.

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Read More

If this topic has spoken to you, I urge you to read the following books, packed full of credible research and practical examples, written by two extraordinarily principled social scientists and independent thinkers.

Kashdan, T. B. (2022).?The Art of Insubordination. Penguin.

Langer, E. J. (2023).?The Mindful Body. Ballantine Books.

For a book review of The Art of Insubordination, go to https://qoligenic.com/read-watch-reflect

About Me

I run a coaching and evidence-based wellbeing practice and work globally as a Coach, Coach Supervisor, Speaker and Consultant.

You can find me on LinkedIn and at Qoligenic

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