| Career Development: Break the Rules Within | | | | |
| the Rules and advance your career. | | | | 3. Define the problem. Write it out. Ask for |
| | | | help and ideas from others in the department. |
| Your future career success lies in your | | | | Run the problem by people you know in the |
| ability to break some rules. Do you know your | | | | industry. What did another company do to |
| competition within the organization? How | | | | solve the problem? Is it applicable to your |
| about your company's competition? Do you | | | | situation? Take the best ideas (giving credit |
| follow them or do you look for ways to move | | | | where credit is due) and work them into the |
| outside the box? | | | | solution. |
| | | | |
| Within the organization, are you expected to | | | | 4. Become known as the idea person and |
| follow the group or if you move outside the | | | | problem solver. Search out others to be |
| group thinking will you be ostracized? Do you | | | | sounding boards for your ideas and possible |
| hide in the group or are you willing to | | | | solutions. Think other ideas through. At |
| achieve success on your own? | | | | meetings if an idea is presented and you |
| | | | don't agree, present a different solution or |
| All are important questions to answer. Are | | | | a well reasoned argument why the proposed |
| you willing to take the risks to your career | | | | direction won't work. |
| to put your ideas into action? If you are | | | | |
| willing to take initiative, responsibility | | | | 5. Strive to have a plan of implementation |
| and break some rules you career will flourish | | | | for every great idea you come up with. Think |
| and in the right environment you'll move up | | | | benefits both for the department and the |
| to areas of more responsibility and more | | | | company. Quantify possible results. |
| rewards. Don't play it safe and take the easy | | | | |
| route and hide behind the rules. | | | | 6. Always look for ways of improving what is |
| | | | being done and moving the company forward. |
| Here are some actions you can take to advance | | | | Consider taking a different approach in |
| your career by breaking the rules within the | | | | dealing with a customer. How can meeting |
| rules: | | | | presentations be improved and streamlined? |
| | | | |
| 1. Think like an entrepreneur. If you owned | | | | Keep this overall approach on the forefront |
| the company what would you do differently? | | | | of your thinking every day. Being average |
| Step out of your job and career and act like | | | | with the group is never good enough. Raise |
| the CEO, fairly analyze your contributions, | | | | the bar. |
| your departments results; what more could you | | | | |
| be doing? | | | | As you challenge the rules that don't |
| | | | contribute to the bottom line, or don't help |
| 2. What rules are getting in your way? What | | | | your career growth or the company's mission |
| rules are getting in your department's way? | | | | statement you'll find your career growing. |
| Study how the rule came about. Is it still | | | | |
| meeting the organization's needs? Maybe part | | | | Importantly your career will have more |
| of it is still valid, how can the rest of the | | | | satisfaction, your responsibilities and |
| rule be modified or eliminated to help the | | | | rewards will increase all because you learned |
| business or customers. | | | | to break the rules with the rules. |