Supervisors often prefer rule breakers, up to a point

Here's the dangerous way I put it that I only tell senior people: understand why rules were made and make sure the people who made them would be happy.

I saw this put really, really well not too long ago:

> A lot of us got the message earlier in life that we had to wait for other's permission or encouragement to do things, when in fact, all you need is the ability to understand the situation and deal with the consequences

So fun to see other variations of this. I have for a while said

> You never need permission to do a good job.

But of course, it takes the experience to understand the nuances of what a good job is in the domain at hand, in the organisation and society at hand.