• Home
  • My Stuff
    • Books
    • Udemy Products
    • Meet Paul
    • Profit Report
    • Contact Paul
  • Courses

    About Courses

    Edit widget and choose a menu
    Learn WordPress From Scratch – WordPress Tutorial

    Learn WordPress From Scratch – WordPress Tutorial

    Free
    Read More
  • Features
    • Portfolio
    • About Us
    • FAQs
    • Sidebar Shop
    • 404 Page
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Login
Paul Browning.com
  • Home
  • My Stuff
    • Books
    • Udemy Products
    • Meet Paul
    • Profit Report
    • Contact Paul
  • Courses

    About Courses

    Edit widget and choose a menu
    Learn WordPress From Scratch – WordPress Tutorial

    Learn WordPress From Scratch – WordPress Tutorial

    Free
    Read More
  • Features
    • Portfolio
    • About Us
    • FAQs
    • Sidebar Shop
    • 404 Page
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Login

Featured

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Featured
  • Better to Ask for Forgiveness Than Permission

Better to Ask for Forgiveness Than Permission

  • Posted by Paul
  • Categories Featured, Wisdom
  • Date September 10, 2010
  • Comments 11 comments

We have been brainwashed into asking for permission before we do a thing.

I’m not talking about stealing stuff or taking drugs for example but day-to-day stuff like taking initiative at work or doing something out of the ordinary.

My friend saw once guy driving along a road made into one lane with traffic cones. His car was on fire but he continued to drive up the road with his car on fire until he found a layby to stop in. He was so conditioned to following the rules that he didn’t even consider ploughing through the cones and running out of his car.

He was prepared to risk his life to stay within the ‘rules.’

When I was in the police I met with the head of security at my local hospital and arranged disposable cameras to be given to all wards to take photos of people who trespassed there in order to steal. When we met with the hospital security committee the chairman congratulated us for taking iniative without getting their permission.

I hadn’t even considered asking! Not out of rudeness but because I saw something needed doing and I did it.

If you think something needs doing then do it and if somebody gets upset you can apologise later.

Paul Browning
[gravityform id=”1″ name=”Click Newsletter”]

Tag:Action

  • Share:
author avatar
Paul

Paul left the police force in the UK in June 2000. He started his first online business in 2002 selling IT training courses.

Since then he has created several other online businesses including IT certification training websites and small business marketing support. Paul has also written over 15 Amazon best selling books.

Previous post

Get Lost!
September 10, 2010

Next post

Looking Back in Anger - Or Happiness
September 13, 2010

You may also like

dollar700
How Much Money is Enough?
13 July, 2014
help3
How Can I Help?
9 July, 2014
laptopb
Why the Laptop Lifestyle is a Big Fat Lie
5 July, 2014

    11 Comments

  1. Gene Miles
    September 10, 2010

    I have to agree with you. Most people will see that something is wrong but won’t take the initiative to correct it if they feel they might get in trouble some how if they do. This has become something of an epidemic in society along with the fear of failure and it has made us stagnant.

  2. Andy
    September 22, 2010

    I often wonder why people are so hesitant to take initiative. I hadn’t considered the possibility that people are concerned with breaking the rules. I agree with you that if something needs to be done, the logical decision is to simply take action. I think we would all live in a better world if more people were more pro-active.

  3. Beth
    September 22, 2010

    I admit that I worry sometimes about being perceived as a rule breaker. I feel like we are encouraged to be followers rather than leaders. The people that I respect the most, however, will do what is right, even if they haven’t asked for permission to do it. They are seen as being very progressive and strong.

  4. Mitch
    September 23, 2010

    Rules are just parameters, and they are not always absolute. Innovative people push the boundaries of those parameters. Obviously, there are ethical and moral rules that we all observe to live in a harmonious society, but there are some rules that are manufactured to keep people “in line”. I think that those are the boundaries that can be tested.

  5. Gerald
    September 27, 2010

    I admire people who do that kind of thing. They see something wrong and they are confident enough to change it. Or they have a better idea and they put it into action. That seems like a true leadership quality.

  6. Jake
    September 30, 2010

    I agree with the other posters. Breaking the rules is a good way to get noticed, especially when what you did pays off.

  7. Walter
    September 30, 2010

    I agree with Gene’s comment. Most of us are too afraid of repercussions to do much about anything. And he’s also right about the fear of failure. Being afraid to fail means that you just accept whatever happens easily.

  8. Reggie
    October 3, 2010

    Willingness to jump in where needed is a quality of leadership.

  9. Brian
    October 24, 2010

    Taking action, and Initiative. I think that is what a lot of people lack nowadays. I think you are totally right. But then again in America, taking initiative isn’t advisable, since anyone can be sued for anything and usually people don’t appreciate your helpfulness and initiative. I’m not saying everyone’s like that, but there are a lot of cases like that.

  10. Brian
    October 26, 2010

    Its so hard to do anything on your own nowadays. its like only the system can decide whether you are right or wrong. Different people, different perspectives. Most of the time two judges in court will not have the same ruling. Even if someone broke into your own house, it might be you who will go to jail.

  11. Reed
    November 2, 2010

    Can’t really blame people like that. We all are since childhood been taught to first seek permission from our parents. Even the kids these days are given consent to have intercourse so long as they have protection. It really sounds disturbing but really its reality.

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Categories

  • 90-Minute Workday
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Business School
  • Business Skills
  • Design / Branding
  • Featured
  • Free Your Time Up
  • Get Whatever You Want
  • Guru Courses
  • Internet Marketing
  • Membership Software
  • Outsourcing
  • Product Creation
  • Product Utilities
  • Saving Time
  • Video Creation
  • Videos
  • Welcome
  • Wisdom
Introduction LearnPress – LMS plugin

Introduction LearnPress – LMS plugin

Free
From Zero to Hero with Nodejs

From Zero to Hero with Nodejs

Free
Learn WordPress From Scratch – WordPress Tutorial

Learn WordPress From Scratch – WordPress Tutorial

Free

Latest Posts

Free Money – From Amazon
18Jun2014
God – I Love My Job
19Nov2012
DON’T DO THIS – IMPORTANT
29Oct2012
logo-eduma-the-best-lms-wordpress-theme
hello@eduma.com
(00) 123 456 789
Edit widget and choose a menu

Connect with

Login with Facebook Login with Google

Login with your site account

Lost your password?