Ryan Bodenheim passed away on December 20th, 2021. He was only 44. He had so much left in life to give.
One of the projects he was working on was a comic book titled SPARK. It was a post-apocalyptic title for the comic book company Bad Idea.
Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash
Bad Idea is a small, scrappy comic book publisher. They had a rule. They would never release any of their titles digitally.
With Ryan’s passing, they chose to release the first issue of SPARK digitally. You can check out the issue here, if that’s your thing.
Why Rules?
We create rules for a reason. We create rules to give us boundaries. The rules tell our people and us where we can and cannot go.
They help keep us in line. We know there are areas we cannot enter into.
But what happens when rules hinder us? What happens when these rules prevent us from doing something unique? Or sharing the work of a highly talented comic book artist? Or sharing the ideas of a beloved colleague?
That’s when we have to break our rules.
Break Your Rules
Rules aren’t meant to keep us from doing the right thing. Rules are there to keep us from doing the wrong thing.
Sometimes, the rules we’ve created will prevent us from doing what we know is right.
At these times, we must be willing to break our rules. We must reexamine the rules we’ve created and why we put them into effect. We have to determine whether or not the rule is beneficial.
You will discover many of the rules that the organization created are either outdated, no longer needed, or created for a specific situation. These rules can be broken.
Much like Bad Idea decided to do with SPARK, they saw a rule that was supposed to help them as a creative company. They would only produce physical comic books, no digital copies.
Upon the death of one of their artists, they looked at what they were doing. They saw an opportunity to honor the artist. And they chose to release the work digitally so all could enjoy it.
What rules are you holding onto? Which rules need to be broken?
Take a close look at the organization’s handbook. You will find it’s time to break your rules and to create new ones.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.