Breaking the Rules:  A Six-Step Process

I hope you enjoyed last week’s blog about the Boston Marathon. If you remember, I ended the post with a question, “Is it okay for someone to break the rules, mislead or cheat to run the Boston Marathon?”

It is easy to quickly answer, “No,” because we are taught to follow the rules. Well, Frank, a fellow runner and friend, wasn’t that quick to agree with me when I discussed the two men rationalizing their behavior. He commented on last week’s post to say that there were differences in the two men’s situations. While one is clearly cheating in Frank’s opinion, Frank believes that the man who received a bib from another runner may not be considered breaking the rules and it would depend on the intent of the runner.

Frank raises an important point, because there could be a time when breaking the rules is okay. The difficulty is in determining when it is okay. Each person has a different opinion, and there can be significant variation among individuals. Because Frank thinks the intent of the runners is important, he believes it would be okay to accept a bib from another runner as long as they didn’t originally plan to use someone else’s bib. His rationale is that no one is harmed. If the qualifying runner can’t run for whatever reason, and thus, no one would run with that bib, no one is harmed if someone else runs with the bib. However, he does consider it cheating if the qualifying runner is planning to give the bib to someone who wouldn’t have otherwise qualified. While I understand this view, I don’t completely agree.

This brings me back to my original question, “Is it okay for someone to break the rules, mislead or cheat to run the Boston Marathon?” I would say, “Yes.” If you remember, I mentioned the name Switzer. Katherine Switzer didn’t necessarily cheat. She actually tried to follow the rules. Some may say that by entering under the name “K. V. Switzer,” she was trying to hide the fact that she was female, although, she signed as she always did. The day she ran, most people were excited to see a woman running the 1967 Boston Marathon, but there were others who didn’t like it. They even tried to physically remove her bib to stop her from running the race. With determination, Switzer finished the race, but she wasn’t the first woman to run.

The year before, Roberta "Bobbi" Gibb “unofficially” completed the race. After registering for the race, she was denied participation. The race director wrote, "This is an AAU Men's Division race only. Women aren't allowed, and furthermore are not physiologically able." In 1972, women were allowed to officially compete in the Boston Marathon. Gibb also ran in the 1967 race with Switzer, and Gibb finished before Switzer. There seems to be some other controversy between the two women, which you can read about in the link associated with Gibb above.

So, if it is okay to break the rules sometimes, how do you know when it is okay? I have the following six-step process for you to follow before you break the rules:

1. Evaluate the rules and understand why they were developed.
2. Identify alternative options that may be available to you.
3. Identify parties that could be impacted and how they may be impacted.
4. Evaluate the personal benefits that you may receive from breaking the rules.
5. Develop a list of alternatives and discuss them with other people whose opinions may differ from yours.
6. Finally, do not rush to a decision.

Of course, breaking the rules is a tricky subject. Be aware that everyone may not agree that it was okay for you to break the rules. Finally, this process may not work with every scenario, but I hope that it provides sufficient guidance for you to use the next time you plan to break the rules. 

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