In Spite Of

I knew an executive who had a sign in his office: "This is not an orderly world."

A wise fellow. He was well aware that much of the real work in organizations gets done in spite of bosses, procedures, and rules. One of the great challenges in anyone's career is learning how to move around restraints that are ill-conceived, ill-designed, and flat-out stupid. Expect order and you'll be disappointed and thwarted.