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We like to help people isolate problems so you can really get at root cause or actually find a way forward. So one simple tool that we use is Kill A Stupid Rule. It is one of our favorites and what most of our clients go to right away. And the idea is, if you could get rid of any two rules to help you be more innovative or better create change, what would they be and why?
And we give them two rules. We say listen, first of all, there’s red rules and green rules. A red rule is something that you cannot kill; you will go to jail; it is illegal; you cannot touch it. Everything else is a green rule and can be killed.
And the next thing we tell them is, if you can’t kill something that bothers you at work, you have to say how you would like to change it because we don’t what people complaining, we want them being productive.
And what we find with people is if you give them 15 minutes they will want more time because they come up with so many things. And interestingly, at the end of the time allotted, what they come up with typically aren’t rules. They are meetings, reports, procedures, cultural norms, things typically that we just assume have to be done and actually could be quick wins to get rid of.