The Importance of Understanding Why a Rule Exists

(recycled from my Linkedin page):

It's important to understand why a rule exists, so you can decide if it's okay to break it or not.

Case in point: I was out at a local chain restaurant (I won't name it - the name is not important) and eating at the bar as I usually do at that location. Two guys came up and tried to order drinks and the bartender, a long-time and usually very helpful employee, refused them. The manager was called, and after a short discussion the men got their drinks. It turns out that their party had already been given a seat in the restaurant section, and the rules required that they order drinks from their table's waitstaff.

Now, what the bartender (who was upset at getting overruled by the manager) didn't understand was why the rule about order from your server was in place. It was in place simply to prevent people from running a "but Mom said" scam and getting free drinks. (They tell the bartender "put it on the table's tab" and the waiter "I paid at the bar" and the drinks end up on neither tab.)

Now, had the bartender understood why this rule was in place, the fix would be "sure, but you'll have to pay me as you go." As it happens, the men had cash in hand, so that shouldn't have been an issue.

The alternative solution would have been for the rule to be, "if the customer is at a table, anybody else who serves them collects the amount due immediately." Although given that some customers would wonder about that, (they always do) again, explaining why the rule was in place would allow whomever got asked a way to gracefully handle it. ("Sure thing, sir / ma'am, but I can't put it on your tab, you'll have to pay me now.")

The "why" of a rule is as important as the "what" of a rule.