They Totally Knew What They Were Doing!

Our buddy Dr. Noam Shpancer reminds us that usually, people who follow the rules get the gold star, and those who don’t get into trouble. But hey, sometimes breaking (or bending) the rules wins applause.

There’s this fancy 2024 study from Amsterdam that looks at how rule-breakers and rule-benders are seen, especially when it comes to who gets to be the boss.

The study told 149 people about a car company trying to stay afloat with three choices:

1. Collect crowdfunding like a good citizen (rule abider)
2. Just sell cars and ignore the paperwork (rule breaker)
3. Sell memberships that come with a car to technically not sell cars at all (rule bender)

Folks then picked who they’d follow. Rule breakers? Seen as bossy but kinda dodgy. Rule abiders? Fancy, but boring. Rule benders? Dominant like breakers but also got that cool factor. Guess who won the leadership crown? Yep, the slick rule benders.

Next, with 480 peeps, they tested this in all kinds of settings - team players vs. competitive spaces. Turns out, rule benders rocked both. Rule breakers shined only when competition heated up. So yeah, bending rules has its perks!

But here’s the catch: too many rule benders in charge could be a bit risky. They're like the sneaky ninjas that keep tweaking the rules to stay on top. Watch out! Anyway, if you love this kind of fun chaos, here are some prime examples straight from the wild world of "They Knew."