Why Does Rick Rubin Say Rules Make Average Work?

David Senra says Rick Rubin treats rules as a path to average behavior, so most rules do not apply when the aim is exceptional work. Average is nothing to aspire to. The goal is to amplify differences rather than fit in.

Value your own voice, develop it, and cherish it. Once a convention is established, the most interesting work would likely be the one that does not follow it. Communicate a singular perspective, in the same spirit as James Dyson's mantra of difference for the sake of it. Artists who define a generation generally live outside accepted boundaries. A healthy practice is to approach the work with as few accepted rules, starting points, and limitations as possible. Standards in a chosen medium often become so common they stay invisible and unquestioned. The world is not waiting for more of the same. The most innovative ideas often come from people who master the rules deeply enough to see past them, or from people who never learn the rules at all.

Holding every rule as breakable is a healthy way to live as an artist. It loosens constraints that promote a predictable sameness in working methods. The way a person works is not the best way simply because it is the way they have done it before.