Cutline Speaks

A Look at Alan Webber’s Rules of Thumb

posted by Meghan on May 20, 2009

We have the opportunity to make impressions and meet new people every day. Some of these meetings are very brief, but within that short time we can still receive a nugget of knowledge and inspiration from each of them. I meet inspiring people every day -- from the coffee shop workers and fellow commuters I meet during my morning routine, to the leaders of non-profits and large companies I'm fortunate to work with every day. I've used social networks to capture some of the lessons they've shared with me and ideas we contemplated on my Google Talk, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Alan Webber, however, collects his “lessons learned” on 3x5 cards, and has now shared them with us in his book titled “Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without Losing Your Self.” 

Alan was co-founder of Fast Company and former editorial director of the Harvard Business Review. I learned a bit more about his book, "Rules of Thumb," from Tim Ferriss’ blog and found myself lost in his post, “Start-up Strategy: To Change the Game, Change the Economics of How its Played.” The post was based on rule #24, but the description of Alan's new book captivated me so much that I quickly ordered it. The book arrived last night and I've already started delving into the first few lessons learned. Alan structured the book so that you can read it from start to finish or just jump in anywhere and pick a rule whenever you have time.

Within just the first few pages, I've already found one of my favorite rules:

#14 - You Don't Know If You Don't Go

I try to follow this rule every day of my life. As long as you're open to new experiences, something good always seems to happen. You never know what people or life has to offer you until you open your mind to new opportunities and new ways of thinking. Every time you leave your comfort zone, no matter how big or small, you grow and learn. Alan describes leaving his comfort zone when he started traveling and meeting new people, saying yes to conferences and business meetings that he'd normally decline, and letting go of control over his schedule for a bit to allow for some distractions that could open him up to unknown territories. 

Bottom line - don't be a busy person who lives in a bubble. Get out of your comfort zone. There's no substitute for experience. If it helps you change your point of view and come up with new ideas, you're not wasting time -- you're opening up new vistas.

Alan describes "Rules of Thumb" as "a book about what works; a way of learning what works and applying it to your own life; the value of experience and observation, of life lived and life reflected on; what all of us can learn from our own experience and from each other; change, and how to make sense of change; and what doesn't change -- the fundamentals of life well lived and work well done."

Check out "Rules of Thumb" when you can or come back to Cutline Speaks -- I'll be posting more rules to live by here soon.

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