Bureaucracies control many aspects of our lives here in the “land of the free” so it is important to know how to effectively deal with them.

There are 8 rules you should always follow when dealing with any legal or bureaucratic entity:

1. Know the risks / costs.

2. Know your endgame (have a specific goal).

3. Record and document EVERYTHING.

4. Know their rules better than them.

5. Use their own rules, words, and limitations against them.

6. Read EVERYTHING.

7. Don’t give them any free passes

8. Isolate the individual actors from the power structure

RTW podcast episode 5 below explains these 8 rules in detail, and gives some examples for when and how they apply, as well as some personal anecdotes of my experience with bureaucracies.