The Rules Lawyer at Your Table Is Probably You at Work

There’s a particular kind of player that shows up at RPG tables. You know the one. They bring a color-coded character sheet, a stack of sourcebooks, and the burning need to explain why what you just did violates page 247, paragraph three. 

We call them the Rules Lawyer. 

And odds are, if you’ve ever led a team, you’ve probably been one. 

Rules lawyers aren’t villains. They usually think they’re helping. Their logic is sound. The rules exist to create fairness, structure, and consistency. And they’re not wrong. The trouble starts when the rules become more important than the people following them. 

I’ve seen it in games, and I’ve seen it on loading docks. 

One of my early leadership gigs involved quality assurance and package flow at a major distribution center. The systems were built around procedures. You do things a certain way because someone ten years ago made a binder that says so. But the real world doesn’t care about binders. Trucks come early. Labels peel off. People get hurt. And somewhere between step four and five, the actual problem is already moving onto the next trailer. 

At first, I tried to do everything “by the book.” I’d stop the line to double-check a damaged box procedure. I’d recite the process for how a missed package should be re-routed. I thought I was leading by example. 

What I was really doing was slowing everything down. 

It hit me during one shift where a new hire, a smart, capable guy, bypassed a clunky workaround to solve a problem faster. I corrected him in front of the team, because technically, he hadn’t followed the process. And I watched his shoulders drop. He did the job right. He got results. But I made him feel wrong because he didn’t follow the script. 

And that’s when I realized something brutal.

I was the Rules Lawyer. 

Not at the table this time. On the floor. 

It’s the same pattern I’ve seen in games. A player derails a fast-paced moment to argue that blaster rules don’t allow for dual-wielding with that specific character class. Not because they’re trying to wreck the session. They’re trying to keep it “correct.” But they miss the point of wha the group is trying to do. 

Same with teams. 

You can be technically right and still kill the momentum. You can follow the procedure and still alienate the person trying to help. You can enforce the rules and still miss the moment where leadership actually mattered. 

So if you’ve ever rolled your eyes at the guy derailing a game over a line-of-sight rule, ask yourself:

What workflow did you cling to last week that kept your team from solving a real problem faster?

Rules exist for a reason. But leadership isn’t about enforcement. It’s about knowing when the moment calls for flexibility. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your team is close the binder, trust the human in front of you, and let the damn speeder chase happen.