Breaking The Rules

The publication of the authorized biography of Steve Jobs is apparently leading to a "Jobs backlash": it turns out Steve wasn't always a nice guy.

For instance, Slate's Farhad Manjoo is shocked to discover that Steve was sometimes "a jerk": he was rude to people and even parked his licence plate-free Mercedes in handicapped spots! Yet at the same time, Manjoo complains that how he was able to pull off the greatest corporate miracle the world has ever seen will forever remain a mystery.

Umm... Can't part of this mystery be explained by the fact that people who change the world have no problem breaking the rules?

Want to change the world? Learn to break the rules; learn to upset people

If nobody's mad at you, chances are you're not doing anything noteworthy. And if you can't stand people being mad at you, you probably don't have what it takes.

But here's the good news: you can practice being a sociopath. Here's a simple exercise in three steps:

1. Go to a McDonald's at a crowded hour
2. Eat your meal at the biggest table you can find, and leave without taking your tray to the trash
3. At this point, people should stare at you. Stare back.

You'll be surprised how hard this is.

(If you didn't feel any discomfort doing this, congratulations! you're already a sociopath. You should be changing the world instead of reading blogs).