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professionallySPEAKING Rules
Are Made to Be…
So how did you complete this title? The old adage usually reads, “Rules are made to be broken,” but instead you might have said, “Rules are made to be followed.” What about: Rules are made to be changed? or ignored? or interpreted? Each has something to say for itself in different situations. For almost any adage, an opposite exists. Literary Nobel Laureate T. S. Eliot once wrote, “It's not wise to violate rules until you know how to observe them.” This is sage advice, particularly for creative endeavors. But don’t forget, “There is only one rule: There are no rules.” At times this philosophy is useful as well. Recently, I had the opportunity to update a classic 1944 book on behavior in the workplace. This book is a collection of common-sense, yet “unwritten” laws for each of us to follow as we go about our daily work and engineering careers. What was most striking about revising this book was how timeless most of its laws are. Although much acceptable behavior in today’s workplace is remarkably similar to that of 1944, there have been some important changes. The most notable have to do with harassment and discrimination, professional and personal responsibility, life‑long learning, and maintaining employability. These factors are a direct result of changes to statutes, society, and corporate culture. For example no one now expects to remain with one employer for a career. Maintaining one’s employability logically follows. But it appears that a subtler, more pervasive change than any explicitly stated rule distinguishes today’s workplace from that of the mid-20th century. The new twist is how we should view and accept the consequences to breaking rules, something that became clear to me only after comparing the old laws with the new ones. Few of the laws in the book’s 1944 edition went into detail about the consequences of breaking them. Usually, it was only stated that violating them would lead to “big trouble.” There was a presumption that engineers, once aware of a rule, would obey it. Therefore, there was little need for describing consequences. But today’s society is a great deal more permissive, even in engineering circles. Indeed, we are now encouraged to be individuals, to question values, to push limits—and all for the good. What we should understand are the consequences of breaking rules. In fact, we may not be aware of it, but all of our conduct in the workplace has measurable consequences. Let me make this case with two examples. We probably all agree that using profanity is not to be admired in the engineer’s workplace. Nevertheless, in 1944 one could (and did) reasonably argue that a well-placed expletive can be purposeful. Perhaps that’s still true, but there are other considerations as well. Think again, and it is clear that using profanity could suggest something quite different to the listener from what the speaker intended. We should consider, really consider, the consequences of foul language. Another example is personal appearance. In 1944, it was enough to state that this was important. If you were well-groomed, you were more likely to succeed in the workplace. But your appearance—conservative, unkempt, daring, youthful, or wild—projects a corresponding image about you to your colleagues. Fifty years ago, you would have been advised to “be careful of your personal appearance.” Now you are advised to “be aware of the effect of your personal appearance.” This theme is not restricted to workplace behavior. Consider product design, where many rules of thumb exist. I have my own that I try to follow, but I have broken them thinking it would be worth it for some advantage—to make the product smaller, or cheaper, or more appealing. It seems I always regret, at least a little, not searching for a solution that would accomplish these and still follow the rules. Much later, the consequences make themselves all too clear and all too troublesome. A colleague likes to remind me, for instance, of a one-piece thermoplastic spring I once designed that was supposed to sustain a constant load, even though the material guidebook told me it could not. Inevitably, this was confirmed months later, and we made remedial design changes for what seemed like years afterwards. You are free to break rules. Most of us do. But do so fully conscious of the likely consequences. Never passively break a rule and then passively accept the result. Instead, if you choose to deviate from any accepted norm, have a purpose. Finally, if you know how to observe rules, you probably understand the consequences of violating them. The author, James G. Skakoon is a mechanical design engineering consultant and the author of two books, including the latest edition of The Unwritten Laws of Engineering (ASME Press, 2001). * * * * * Article courtesy of Mechanical Engineering magazine Vol. 124/No. 2, February, 2002, page 26; Copyright Mechanical Engineering magazine (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International).
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