You can just do things

Everything is made up.

In my middle school science classes they taught us about how electrons orbit the nucleus of a molecule in clear concentric circles. I got to A-level physics and they told us that all of that was kind of wrong. Dumbed down to simplify the understanding. Even our “facts” are just convenient constructs.

Traffic lights.

Someone decided we needed a system to control traffic flow, so they invented coloured lights. Red means stop, green means go. Before traffic lights existed, people figured it out. Now, if you don’t stop for a red light in an empty car park at 3am with no other cars in sight, you’re breaking the law.

When I was born, England was part of the EU. Now it’s not. So for the first few decades of my life I could freely travel, live or work anywhere in the EU, now I can’t. Because someone made up some new rules.

It all works because most of us just accept these rules and crack on. We follow the herd, even when the herd is heading in the wrong direction. But sometimes, people don’t follow the prescribed path. You know those worn tracks through grass verges where everyone’s actually walking, ignoring the official concrete path that goes the long way around? Those are beautiful examples of collective reality hacking. Thousands of people looked at the “official” route and said “nah, this way’s better.”

Smart councils eventually just put the path where people are already walking. They recognise that the made-up rule wasn’t serving the people it was meant to help.

The most celebrated, profitable, and socially acceptable form of reality hacking is building businesses. Every successful company starts with someone saying “the current way doesn’t work, here’s a better way.” Society doesn’t just tolerate this, it rewards it with profit, status, and influence.

When Alex and I founded StoryStream, we were essentially hacking the reality of marketing. The made-up rule was that brand marketing had to be polished, corporate content created by agencies. We said “what if brands used real content from real customers instead?” The established marketing world told us it couldn’t be done at scale. We ignored those rules and built the technology anyway. Today, brands around the world use StoryStream to put real customer content at the heart of their marketing. We helped move marketing in a new direction, and now, over a decade later, that approach has become the norm rather than the exception.

If your business isn’t reality hacking in some way, I’d argue you’ve got a problem. You’ve lost sight of the point. You’re making life unnecessarily hard for yourself and everyone else. The whole reason to start a business is to say ‘there’s a better way to do this.’ If you’re just copying what already exists, you’re not solving anything. You’re just adding to the noise.

Actually, this goes way beyond business. Reality hacking is basically the human condition. Every generation looks at how their parents did things and says ‘we can do better.’ Having kids, raising them differently, building better communities, creating art that didn’t exist before. Even falling in love is a form of reality hacking. You’re saying ‘the way I lived before doesn’t work anymore, this new reality with this person is better.’

Not every rule needs challenging though. Traffic lights actually serve most people well without harming others. They simplify a complex coordination problem. The key is asking: does this rule serve most people? And does it simplify life rather than complicate it?

Take dress codes in offices. Smart casual, business attire, no shorts. These rules often exist for no practical reason beyond “that’s how we’ve always done it.” If people can do their job just as well in shorts and a t-shirt, and it doesn’t harm anyone else, why maintain the rule?

Sometimes the “rules” about how business should work don’t serve anyone well. When I was running Bite Studio, we developed a concept for retailers to turn their shop windows into interactive digital stores. Everyone loved the idea, but no one would fund it. The “rule” in the agency world is simple: no client budget, no project.

We could have killed the idea. Instead, we kept it alive while continuing our other work. When GAP called months later looking for something innovative and creative for a completely different project, they remembered us as the agency with bold ideas. That project transformed our reputation and opened doors we couldn’t have imagined.

Sometimes the first “no” isn’t the final answer. Sometimes you just need to find a different path.

Most of the barriers stopping you from making things better exist only in your head.

The permission you think you need? Made up.

The credentials required? Made up.

The “right” way to do it? Made up.

This doesn’t mean being reckless. It means recognizing that most of the systems around us were created by people no smarter than you, often decades ago, when the world was very different.

If you see a path through the grass that works better, don’t wait for someone to build it for you. Start walking it. If enough people follow, eventually someone will pave it properly.

The world needs more reality hackers. People who look at broken systems and say “we can do better than this.” People who build businesses that don’t just make money, but make life better for everyone involved.

The best reality hacking doesn’t just change the rules for you. It changes them for everyone who comes after you.

So what reality are you going to hack next?