Are you ready to Break rules?

 

If you come home at 11.30 PM , stop your car at the security gate, ask for the amazon delivery and prod &  push the security guy to open the cupboard to search for this package, it has to be something extraordinary and precious. That is the “Code of Extraordinary Mind.” Yes , it is the title of the book written by #Vishen Lakhiani  which opened my way of thinking of what was supposed to a Rest@vacation in the past 10 days.

I was in my home town  last 10 days ,  and it was supposed to be a  weekend of rest, in fact I had bought a book titled “ REST”. It turned out to be quite the opposite .

My daughter fell ill and the temperature was escalating. We provided quick medical support and the next day we were supposed to meet the Doctor. Post the consultation , I had forgotten to get the doctor’s mobile number. In the event that we need any help in the night I thought that could be handy. I called the hospital and asked for her mobile number . They in turn gave me her residence number and told that we are not allowed by rule to give mobile numbers. It made me question how is it  possible to stick to such a rule? Next day , during the consultation , I asked for her mobile number and I explained the incident. Initially reluctant Doctor gave me her mobile no. I was interacting with her very well and in my view  I followed this mantra “ Make every person you meet feel like there is something valuable in them”. I made her feel valuable with our inquisitiveness and expectation effect. It made me realize that sometimes in life we need to really break the rules.

As my daughter  was recovering , I fell ill thanks to a gastroentric problem. The consulted Doctor gave me full freedom to mail him, call him at his residence to share the report which was expected next day. I did both and was expecting a response. Answer was no response. As a rule , you are not supposed to visit a Doctor without appointment. I decided to visit his residence. Initially the front desk person tried to turn down my request. That is when I opened a conversation with his wife and bingo doors opened. I met him on a Sunday afternoon at 3 PM. It was obviously seen in his demeanour.

Why did I break the rules? In my view I broke the rules because while following the rules I was not able to make progress and no outcome. Reaching out to the lady Doctor was very critical as my daughter’s temperature was on the rise and we wanted to check on the dosages. I gate crashed when I noticed that despite repeated attempts to reach Gastroentrologist had failed.My report which was “not normal” gave me permission to go the extra mile.

If things are  normal , it was not required to break the rules. However if things are not normal , I had to break the rules. This connected me with Vishen’s world view on Brules. Vishen defines Brules as outdated rules. This can be categorized by things , processes and even people.

Brules are handed down by our tribes (family , culture and educational system). I too realized , I keep telling my kids “During our times we did not have these facilities , yet we did well “. That statement in the new context does not make sense at all for the kids and for us today. The response from the kid came in the form of questions, “How does that matter to us?” I learned from my children “Dare to ask Questions?”

So question everything which you think is not applicable in the new context of our lives. In my experience , I turned to two questions in my case. First “Why should the hospital not disclose the lady Doctor’s number in the event of an emergency ? Second , “Why should I not meet the gastroenterologist since he has not responded to my calls and emails even though he asked me to do the same? Finally my opinion is we should “Test some Brules and Rest some Brules” because if “normal is the not the rule” ,“Break the Brules”. 

Now one more Brule I broke. I always thought “Rest is the opposite of Work” I figured out ” Rest is Work”.

Are you ready to test this rule?