What about the unwritten rules? These are the rules people are led to believe they are not allowed to try or implement. We encounter these unspoken rules everyday, yet they are not in the employee manual. The very cool thing is we can make these unspoken rules work to our advantage. It's a matter of re-engineering our perspective. Gifford Pinchot touched on some these unwritten rules with "Intrapreneur's 10 Commandments".
The unwritten rules constantly change, as situations or individuals guide their creation. Savvy Intrapreneurs learn how to make both the written and unwritten rules work for them and people on their team. Can you find the page, in the employee manual, where the following rules are written?
Where does it say you can ask for a raise any time you want? Where does it we can't ask for a raise every 3 months? How about asking for a raise 4-6 months after our last raise?
Where does it say we can't create winning situations with our team by utilizing the 10 Rules of Office Engagement?
Where does it say we can politely and professionally terminate a conversation with our manager or coworker, if s/he decides to throw a screaming and yelling temper tantrum? As human beings, we are each entitled to be treated with mutual respect.
Where does it say we ALL have the potential to excel and get the keys to the executive bathroom?
Where does it say we should use every opportunity to market ourselves throughout the organization?
Where does it say we can give ourselves a raise any time we want?
Where does it say we should encourage our manager as much as they support us? Even a manager likes to know they are valued by their team.
Where does it say that we should take it personal, if our manager beats us up on a task "they feel" is not done well? The task is being attacked, not us. Feeling confident that we did the best we could, is all that counts. Other people judging us is purely subjective. Maybe it's not us. It's them.
Where does it say we should allow coworkers to make their issues our issues? If someone creates a situation, we can assist them with a resolution. That person must understand they own that issue, not you.
Where does it say office bullies are actually masking a lack of confidence.
Where does it say all our dreams should be tied to one source of income? Why can't we create multiple sources of income?
Where does it say we cannot run our career as a profitable business?
Where does it say we cannot print those emails where people say nice things about the service we provided and have Human Resources place them in our employee folder?
Where does it say if we take all our vacation, personal and sick days we are entitled to, it may work against us at our yearly review?
Where does it say we can request an assessment of our performance every 3 months, from our manager? This would allow us to make adjustments, to improve our performance. It is an injustice to ourselves if we wait 12 months to get dropped down 15 flights of stairs, because our manager has not been dissatisfied with our performance.
Where does say that being assertive with people up and down the corporate food chain achieves their respect, even if they do not like us personally?
Where does it say we are paid to tell our manager what we think they want to hear, instead of the real answer, just because we are afraid of rocking the boat? Where does it say we are supposed to be in constant fear of being fired? Where does it say providing our manager with honest accurate information, allows the manager to make better informed business decisions? The latter of the 2 rules allows you, your team and the company be more successful.
By now, I'm sure you can start thinking of some other rules that insure YOUR SUCCESS. These unwritten rules are in constant play all the time. There are way more unwritten rules than there are published rules. Can you identify them as they manifest themselves?
Copyright (c) 2004 - 2007 C. E. Reid, SAVVY INTRAPRENEUR
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