Introduction
Rules whether old or new in the life of a human being help him or her to shape behavior and enable him to cope with daily life. Rules are important in ones life because they help in making meaning of the world around him and help him to function on daily basis. Helpful rules which are regarded as new rules in any given situation are characterized by being realistic, easily adaptable and flexible and having ability to help an individual function in a healthy and safe manner. On the other hand, unhelpful rules commonly referred as the old rules by the majority in the society are characterized by being unrealistic, excessive, inadaptable, unreasonable and rigid. An example of such an unhelpful rule is person deciding that he can never ask for help regardless of the kind of problem he is in.
Challenges of reconciling old and new rules
Reconciliation of old and new rules requires an individual to first understand the importance of the new rules as being more helpful than the current rules and then undergo a gradual process to adapt them. However, this is sometimes an uphill task because if the old rules happen to be unhelpful, the individual suffers strong negative emotions when adapting the new rules because to him it appears the old rules are being broken. This can easily happens given that the old rules are already unrealistic. (Malcolm, 2005)
Another challenge is that new rules unlike the old and probably unhelpful ones which people in an organization or society are used require to be learnt. This implies that the learning process can be tedious, complicated, and expensive and time consuming given that most of the old rules are not taught but rather develop over a time through trial and error and through experiences that one undergoes in his early life. As a result conflict can easily arise in adapting new rules because teaching new rules naturally takes a relatively short period of time and thus unlikely to take roots fast in the minds of an individual.
Old rules can be specific to a particular culture reflecting the norm and cultural aspects of the individuals where they grew up. Therefore, introducing new rules and trying to reconcile the two is like breaking ones culture which is very hard because of even the influence that the other members of the society impact on the individual. This means that the whole society has to be changed and be made to understand the importance of the new rules and that they are not meant to break their culture but rather to supplement it. (Eugene, 2004)
Reconciliation of the two kinds of rules can also be very hard because people are naturally resistant and stubborn to changes in their behavior even when they are promised of good outcome in adapting the new rules. This is because once the old rules have taken roots in the mind of an individual, they influence the perception, interpretation and the way that person absorbs information throughout the rest of his life. The society tends to be attentive and see sense to only those aspects of life consistent with their already known rules and believes. (William, 2007)
People who have low esteem usually develop old rules and assumptions the best way possible known to them in an effort to protect their esteem and these rules happen to be very rigid and hard to adapt. The problem arise if such people manage to stick and implement these rules because they tend to feel okay about themselves since there is no who one can make out how worthless they think they are. A person operating with such rules tend to acquire a behavior that is restricted such that their rules lack an opportunity to be challenged to find out how accurate they are.
If such a person fails to challenge his biased expectations as well as his negative self evaluation, reconciling old rules and new rules can be very difficult and this can only be done through adapting new behaviors by assuming that the new rules are true and more helpful and then observing what happens. This might appear difficult to the individual but through practice it becomes easier. (William, 2007)
Conclusion
Reconciliation of both old and new rules in ones life should be a gradual process which should be well bridged and conducted professionally because it is a continuous requirement in ones life and for the success of any organization. The method that is employed in the process is what determines how challenging the reconciliation will be.
References
William G. (2007): Innovation inspired by nature: Harper Collins publishers New York.
Eugene F. (2004): Self-organizing systems: plenum press New York.
Derek C. (2000): creating the productive work place: E & FN spoon London.
Malcolm G. (2005): How little things can make a big difference: little brown and company New York.