The Third Edition of RUT Management builds upon a realization that first reshaped the book. When I wrote the original edition, I made a dangerous assumption that most people understood they were in a RUT and what that represented. I discovered instead that most folks had little to no clue about their RUT, where they were along their trek, or why knowing such information mattered. That realization led to two additional chapters and expanded ideas in the Second Edition, illuminating the significance of RUTs before discussing how to manage them. This Third Edition preserves that foundation while refining the language, presentation, maps, and visual elements for readers encountering RUT Management today. The route is clearer, but the destination remains unchanged: to recognize the patterns that shape our lives and learn to manage them with purpose.One thing hasn't changed however. The reality of the RUT is still summed up by a friend who, when I first told him about the idea of this book, commented, "I thought you were supposed to avoid RUTs, not manage them." That's the prevailing misconception, or more accurately,
the misdirection we all have in our minds as we trek our well-worn or newly trod paths of life. My friend's remark and the ensuing conversation inspired the writing of RUT Management, and this Third Edition continues to expound on that concept. Most of us travel4 the well-worn path with the expressed mission of escaping the RUT. And that seems to be the right thing to do on the surface. After all, who wants to think of themselves as being in such a routine that they cannot, should not, dare not veer off the trail?But then again, who says regularity and predictable patterns are the training field of monotony and complacent lifestyles? Does such an assumption mean that irregularity and spontaneous action are the spawning grounds for successful innovation and consistent leadership?I confess to having had these concepts inappropriately mingled, as do many people. I had to stop and evaluate what really influenced me toward the great accomplishments in my life and what type of behavioral patterns truly caused me to crash and burn. I discovered, surprisingly, that the things I heard most promoted-spontaneity, free-spiritedness, and individual action-are double-edged swords. If left to my own devices, I'm prone to wander from old fad to new fad, never focusing on the distant goal.
