The animated movie The Croods tells the story of Grug, the stubborn patriarch of a family of cave people. He has protected his brood in the harsh world in which they live by carefully concocting a series of rules that limit their risks of being eaten. But when circumstances force the family out of their home an into a completely new environment, the rules are thrown into question and Grug struggles to adapt. This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie, an interchange between Grug and his rebellion teenage daughter, Eep: Grug: It’s my job to worry. It's my job to follow the …
Rules That Don't Exist
We are constantly bombarded with rules that don't exist. This collection of “rules” comes from everywhere: parents, grandparents, politicians, first grade teachers, old dead white guys, and young celebrity trendsetters. We follow them (often subconsciously) for reasons that range from irrelevant to superstitious to downright stupid. Sadly, they often limit us from living better stories. Below are some we've identified so far. Did we miss one?
Thou Shalt Not Send Thyself Flowers
My friend Jeanne recently turned forty. By her own estimation, her life is wonderful and filled with love. But she admitted that it didn’t seem that long ago when she thought that one of the worst things in life would be to still be single at twenty-five. No way could she imagine still being single at thirty-five. That would be HORRIBLE! And now here she was, tentatively peeking her nose out from under the covers as she awoke, still single, on the first morning of the start of her fifth decade. Although weary of the feeling that would welcome her, she was pleasantly surprised to report …
Thou Shalt Not Have Fun in Elevators
Willy Wonka’s glass elevator was an Adultitis Antidote. How many elevators can you say that about? With all due respect to Aerosmith, elevators are not usually bastions of fun. They are awkward little boxes in which everyone stares blankly at the floor numbers, tightens the sphincter, and puts on their best grown-up face while staring straight ahead. It's the equivalent of entering a walk-in closet with random strangers and closing the door. But taking a page out of Mr. Wonka’s book is not that hard. My friend Dan plays a game called Elevator Fight Club with his kids. When they are in …
Thou Shalt Not Sulk
Corinne had just finished a long, hard day at work. She was looking forward to enjoying a juicy leftover hamburger from last night’s dinner, but when she opened the fridge, she discovered they were all gone. Fuming, she plopped into her recliner, wrapped herself in a blanket, crossed her arms, and settled in for a good sulk. Corinne reported that she felt guilty for pouting, but the next day realized that her self-contained pity party wasn’t all bad. She said, "It was a non-violent way to combat my tiredness and frustration, no yelling, no recriminations involved, and I eventually ended …
Thou Shalt Not Let Thine Princess Dress Get Wet
A half mile from our house, there is a row of lakefront homes. A small sliver of land between two of the behemoths serves as a public access point to the lake. Last week, an hour before the sun tucked itself in for the night, we pushed our strollers through the skinny green passageway to enjoy the pint-sized plot of beach that was ours. It wasn’t long before Lucy began wading in the water, delighted by the sand squishing between her toes. She was wearing last year’s Halloween costume — a pink and yellow princess dress — because, well…just because. The gentle waves kissed the bottom of her …
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Thou Shalt Repeat Airplane Safety Instructions as if Thy Were a Robot Low on Batteries
Southwest Airlines doesn’t operate out of Madison. If it did, I’d be tempted to fly it, mostly because of their reputation for having Adultitis-free flight attendants. I don’t even know how accurate that reputation is anymore, but it was refreshing to get a taste of how I perceive it to be on a recent Delta flight. We were greeted by an enthusiastic (but not annoyingly so) young man who said, "I'm Ryan and I'm your MC on this one hour and twenty minute flight of aviation excitement!” Accustomed to airline announcements sounding like they’re being delivered by Charlie Brown’s teacher, my …
Thou Shalt Determine a Thing’s Importance by How Easily it Can Be Measured
How can you tell if the story you’re living is any good? Before a speech I gave recently, the executive director of the organization that hired me was sharing the results of a survey they had commissioned to evaluate their effectiveness. By all accounts, this organization had met or exceeded all of their performance metrics. But as the leader admitted, "most performance metrics don’t tell a really good story.” She’s right, you know. Things like income, expenses, and profit margins can give us a handy snapshot of the health and growth of an organization. But they do not tell the whole …
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Thou Shalt Wait for Permission from Your Boss Before Doing Something Awesome
Did you know that Steven Spielberg was actually going to use stop-motion to animate the dinosaurs for his film Jurassic Park? It was a no-brainer, especially since he had Phil Tippett, the master puppeteer who was responsible for bringing many of the Star Wars creatures to life. But then some rebels at Industrial Light & Magic who lived by the motto “Always question the established system” did some covert experimenting and the results ended up changing Jurassic Park — and movies — forever. "I love the term ‘you will never.’ If I had listened to ‘you will never,’ the T-Rex never would have …
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Thou Shalt Tear Here
I totally opened this from the other side and my Horsey Sauce came out just fine, so…#notarule. …
Thou Shalt Be Excited When School’s Out for Summer
What's a sadder reflection on our modern educational system: the fact that "School's Out" by Alice Cooper is the de facto theme for students everywhere this time of year, or the fact that almost no one stops to consider that maybe it's a problem that so many people feel this way about school? I wonder... is "Thou shalt be excited when school's out for the summer" a rule that doesn't need to exist? I'll admit, the first day of summer vacation for me was always gloriously delicious. It meant freedom. But freedom from what, exactly? Freedom from being told what to do all day …
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