Master the rules first, then break them strategically.
In the 1870s, the painter Edgar Degas completed his puzzling work, “Jockeys Before the Race.” Surprisingly, the most notable feature of the painting was a flagpole.
The real focal point, the head of a majestic racehorse, was bisected by the pole. This looked like a beginner’s mistake, breaking all of the established rules of composition and design.
Degas, however, was neither ignorant nor amateur. He was a master of the rules, and yet he broke them.
Wrong Theory
This radical design choice, along with many others, is cited as examples of “Wrong Theory” in a 2014 Wired Magazine article by Scott Dadich, entitled “Why Getting It Wrong Is the Future of Design.”
Dadich noted the innovative progression:
Establish the rules
Practice the rules
Break the rules strategically
He called the phenomenon “Wrong Theory”.
Wrong Theory isn’t just for companies and institutions.
It’s also for individuals who innovate themselves.
But Degas wasn’t simply a rule-breaker.
He was a classically trained artist. He was rigorous in his research and precise in his draftsmanship. He knew exactly what he was doing with that flagpole.
“Following the rules of your industry will only get you so far.”
— Max McKeown
The Playbook Switch
What Degas was really doing was switching playbooks.
There are two playbooks, and both are available to all of us.
The old, established playbook used by businesses and institutions is based on stability and equilibrium. It starts with looking for problems to fix, and requires careful management and seeks to produce predictable, linear results.
The new playbook is for individuals. It starts with looking for opportunities. It promotes personal expression through mindset, volition, and process.
Unlike the linear nature of the old playbook, the new playbook is non-linear by nature, because opportunities can and do appear anywhere.
One playbook isn’t “good”, while the other is “bad”.
Each playbook is good and useful for its own purposes and context.
Like Degas, the trick is to learn both playbooks, and switch between them strategically.
Degas was self-managed, and self-directed.
The racehorse obscured by the flagpole appears as a mistake to be discarded, yet today, that painting itself could easily be worth tens of millions of dollars.
That’s the value of innovating yourself. Learn both playbooks. Learn the rules. Break the rules strategically.
“Opportunity appears everywhere, but individuals benefit when they recognize it and act on it.”
— Ken Cooper
From Degas to X-Men
In the late 90’s, I had a stint as art director for the St. Louis Cardinals Gameday Magazine. It was the official team glossy magazine that was distributed at each game in Busch Stadium.
The Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa home run derby was in full swing that year, changing day by day, with many rewrites and “stop the presses” moments.
Then came an unexpected cameo from someone from the comics industry. It was Todd McFarlane.
Todd was like Degas in many ways — full mastery of the rules of his craft, yet independent and ready to break them at will.
Todd had experienced unprecedented success at Marvel, and then, at the peak, decided to “go independent” with other unprecedentedly successful artists to form Image Comics in California.
As Mark McGwire drove his history-making home run number 70, and the dust settled for who would keep the ball, Todd McFarlane made his cameo once again, paying three million dollars for the ball.
McFarlane, like Degas, was grounded in the sound rules of the world in which he lived. And yet, both profited by asserting their individualism.
Both knew exactly where the flagpole should have been according to the rules.
And yet both strategically broke the rules.
Be like Degas. Learn the rules.
Then plant your flag where you want it to be.
Something to think about…
Which rules in your industry have you mastered, yet strategically “broken”? What happened?
Which playbook is your default right now? The one built for stability, or the one built for opportunity? Why?
Where do you want to plant your flag? What’s keeping you from doing it?