I think about this a lot – If you aren’t breaking rules everyday you aren’t an entrepreneur.

People have many different definitions for the word Entrepreneur, but one of mine circles around rule breaking.  Entrepreneurs believe there are numerous ways to live and get things done.  And typically their creative way is much better than the standard practice.  Entrepreneurs often break the rules so they can see or do something from a different perspective.  Only by breaking the rules can you grab a different view of the world, possibly opening up a new market, product or business model.

To take it a little farther, not only should you break the rules but you need to re-write the rules.  If you are a true leader, the rules you write then become the rules others start to play by.  That’s how you end up owning the market.  Look at Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Musk and many other highly influential and successful entrepreneurs.

All were rule breakers.

And more importantly, all were rule makers.

I read a recent GeekWire recent post on Tim cook, where he essentially said the same thing on breaking the rules:

“I think you should rarely follow the rules. I think you should write the rules. I think if you do follow things in a formulaic manner, you will wind up at best being the same as everybody else, maybe you miss something and you’re a little worse. If you want to excel, you can’t do that.”

Call ’em crazy.  I call ’em entrepreneurs.