At the hospital, a nurse cared for a patient who wasn’t allowed to drink more than 500 millilitres a day. However, there were only glasses of 200 millilitres. The nutrition assistant, who was very strict and by no means wanted to give more than the allowed quantity, decided to give this patient a drink only twice a day, while the rest got a drink three times.

The patient became very frustrated, and the nurse had an idea to solve the problem. She went to a store and bought a smaller glass. This way, the patient could also have something to drink three times a day, without endangering his life.

The nurse was so passionate about providing the best care for her patients that she couldn’t just let go and created a workaround. She rebelled (and took ownership to ensure this became a standard practice).

We add complexity every day

We, humans, are wired to add stuff rather than remove it. It happens everywhere, and it’s all around us. We don’t even see most of it anymore, let alone find it weird.

Millions of people take off their shoes at the airport every day. When you are selected for the random check at the self-scan at the supermarket, the inspector only scans the items on the receipt (which by definition aren’t the ones that I would steal, right 🤔).

Whenever an incident happens, we often add another procedure or rule to the work instructions rather than finding an innovative, simple solution. After a while, we end up in a maze of inefficiencies.

Read more about this in an earlier edition of the ASK DR REBEL newsletter.

I’m Mr Wolf, I solve problems

While most of us hate bureaucracy, rebels love it. They see it as a challenge, and all these illogical and nonsensical rules and procedures are like complex puzzles they want to solve. It fuels their creativity.

Rebels aren’t indifferent or reactive; they have a strong urge to improve things. They are born “Mr Wolf’s”. (ref Pulp Fiction- remember that scene 😎?)