Glacier Quarterly 3 - 2018

Unwritten rules are usually cultural
characteristics, or are determined
by the limits of current technology.
Therefore they can change.
If written rules determine what we
may not do, unwritten rules include
what we can’t do. A simple example:
school rules say you’re not allowed
to take someone else’s lunch box,
but that doesn’t mean you’re physically
unable to do it. So, you may not, but
you can. Conversely, no one’s saying
we’re not allowed to live under
water, it’s the technology that says
we can’t. Yet.
And this is the reason why many
disruptions come in a digital format –
they break the ‘you-can’t-do-it’
unwritten rules. Here are some
examples: you can’t read the news
unless you buy a newspaper; you
can’t enjoy your photographs unless
someone develops them; you can’t
buy something unless you go to a
shop; you can’t do any banking unless
you go to a bank; you can’t test your
blood pressure unless you visit a
healthcare provider; and, more
recently, you can’t travel in a car
unless someone is driving it.
In the game of disruption, you can’t
do something – until you can.
This article originally appeared in
the publication Fox Bytes and on the
mindofafox Growing Foxes app in the
week of 28 May 2018.
https://www.mindofafox.com/?p=1498
Mitch Ilbury,
Director, Mind of a Fox
and Growing Foxes
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