We live in a world governed by rules. Stop signs, school schedules, work regulations, employment conditions, social codes, a culture of silence. Some rules are necessary – they protect us from harm, provide stability, create security. But many other rules are… more of an old habit. Something we just follow because we can’t bear to think about it.
And right there – in the gap between rule and reality – creativity begins to whisper: “What if it doesn’t have to be this way?”
Ethics first, always
Breaking rules should never be an end in itself. There is a limit – and it is crossed when there is harm. A creative act that endangers someone else or violates their dignity is not creative, it is irresponsible. But challenging the comfortable, the casual, the meaningless and the harmful rules of others – it can be both liberating and necessary.
Natural laws vs. Human laws
Gravity is a law of nature. You cannot legislate it away. You can temporarily override it – with jet engines, lift or counterweight – but it is there, unwavering.
But what happens when we create human rules and systems that conflict with the logic of nature?
Take, for example, laws that allow overfishing despite collapsing fish stocks. Forestry laws that encourage monocultures in ecologically sensitive areas. Agricultural subsidies that drive soil depletion. They may be legal – but they go against biological and physical limits. They are doomed to collapse.
Sooner or later, nature speaks out. Then it is no longer a question of whether we question the laws, but how quickly we dare to do so.
Provoking with humor
Sometimes we need not only to think outside the box, but to laugh at the fact that the box even exists. I once participated in a pool competition at a resort. The competition involved two teams standing on opposite sides of the pool, and when a ball was thrown into the middle, the team whose player reached it first won.
In the final, I had an idea.
When the ball was thrown, I didn’t swim. I jumped up onto the edge of the pool, ran (much faster than swimming) to the middle of the pool and dove in for the ball. I won – by a wide margin. By far.
But we were disqualified. It was considered cheating. I pointed out that there was no explicit rule that forbade it – it was a creative move! But no. At the resort, they couldn’t take it in. It was too unexpected. They didn’t see the fun in it, because the leaders couldn’t think of anything new, right then and there.
And sure – I broke expectations, against the norm, against the implied. But not against any explicit rule.
That’s where many of our rules live – in the invisible.
Rules are often designed for predictability.
Creativity thrives in the unpredictable.
That is why it so often clashes with the predictable.
What can arise is anger, frustration, references to cheating or, just as often, laughter. Laughter because the invisible is made visible.
So, what can we do?
We can start by asking questions. Because that is how creativity is born.
Not in the answers – but in the right questions.
- What invisible rules do you follow – without even knowing it?
- What structures are there in your everyday life that no one questions anymore?
- What laws of nature have we suppressed when we design our systems?
- What would happen if you didn’t do what you have always done?
- And which “pool” can you run around, when everyone else is struggeling?
Creativity is not about breaking everything.
But it is about knowing which rules need to be broken – and why.
What invisible rules are you following right now – and what would happen if you challenged them?
