Just Two Minutes: Rules

Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.

Maybe it’s because my dad was a lawyer, but I’ve never been big on “rules.”

I obey laws—those are different. But when it comes to rules, I take a page from The Firm. There’s this scene where Tom Cruise’s character asks Gene Hackman how far he can bend the law. Hackman answers, “As far as you can without breaking it.” That’s been my approach ever since.

Because here’s the truth: most “rules” aren’t real. They’re just things people accept because no one ever bothers to question them.

So when I get questions about starting a dental business, building software, or structuring our podcast, and someone says, “We can’t do that,” my immediate response is, “Why not?”

Take hiring a treatment coordinator. The traditional thinking: you need someone with good people skills, dental knowledge, insurance expertise, and ideally, 10+ years of experience. Makes sense. But have you ever thought about hiring a sales specialist instead?

“Oh no, we can’t do that. They don’t know dental. It’d take too long to train.”

Says who?

If someone already knows how to close deals, follow up on treatment, and keep schedules packed, I’d take that over someone who just knows insurance any day. The dental lingo? That’s the easy part. In fact, it might even be a bonus—they can talk to patients like humans instead of throwing out #12DO composite jargon that means nothing to them.

Same thing when we were setting up the podcast. Eric would ask, “How should we start? Most podcasts kick off with some pre-interview banter—should we do the same?”

My answer? “Let’s do whatever’s most interesting.”

That’s the only rule. What actually works? That’s what you do.

The problem is, we convince ourselves these made-up rules have to be followed. And that stops us from doing what’s actually effective.

But here’s the thing: I always look at results. If that sales specialist doesn’t hit an 85% treatment acceptance rate, that’s not a bad idea, that’s a bad hire. If the podcast structure flops, that’s not because we didn’t follow some imaginary rule—it just means we need a better approach.

Rules should exist to help you move forward. If they don’t, they’re just roadblocks. And roadblocks are meant to be broken.

-Dr. Alex

PS: This rule-bending does NOT apply to raising a 5- and 3-year-old. Don’t bend those rules unless you want to be the one that breaks. Trust me!