Interpretation

Humans are funny things.  We’ve been taught to learn the rules and obey them, and while it can be a very empowering thing to know the rules, laws, or other things and therefore maximise them, it can also be limiting.

Let’s consider something extreme, such as shooting another human.  While I hope never to do this, I do find it interesting that the same two humans can be involved in a fatal shooting with the exact same circumstances but have different outcomes based on their geographical location at the time of the event.  Location X would result in no criminal charges to person A, whereas location Y would result in nothing short of prison.

Now, if all you see of the world is from the perspective of location X, the chances of you shooting someone is likely higher than if all you see is from location Y.  What you observe is interpreted through a lens of rules that you have adopted, and therefore shapes your actions.

So what happens when your ruleset is dysfunctional? What if you are so indoctrinated that you hesitate to shoot to kill someone who will, if not stopped, kill your loved ones, simply due to fear of breaking the rules?

I use shooting as an extreme, but the concept is solid, and prevalent in the world of points and miles.  Last week, there was a window where people could apply for a credit card with an exceptional sign up bonus and be approved without much screening.  People didn’t apply because they were fearful they could not be approved due to a ‘rule’ called 5/24, which I believe means no more than 5 cards in 24hrs.  Their belief in the ‘experts’ who seek to define, explain and control the rules prevented them from getting something they wanted.

They were trapped by the rules. They hesitated, they didn’t pull the trigger for fear of denial.

In the land of points and miles, it is very important to interpret the ‘news’ properly.  Following the ‘rules’ that are set out by experts will get you so far, but will limit higher level progress. As an example, let’s look at the theory that Chase Private Client allows someone to supercede 5/24.

Rule (or theory) provided

Being a Chase Private Client will (or might very likely) allow you to circumvent 5/24

Action Taken

People are wiring in $250K in the hope that perpetual credit card apps will come to them.

Alternative Interpretation

There is discretion.  Somehow, it is possible to override any firm rule about ‘5/24’, it is possible by human interaction.   This involves someone checking a box, filling a form, clicking a button. You might think that this can only happen if you are status ‘Private Client’ but the truth is that it is very unlikely that the button or check box used actually has ‘Private Client’ written on it versus ‘Approved By’.

This manner of thinking is critical going forward, because there will come a time when being a Private Client, or wiring in $10K or any other such mumbo jumbo fails you. Doors close, deals die.

The key is not the interpreted rule, but that an opportunity exists.  The opportunity is found in the discrepancy, when you see or hear of someone being approved. To interpret such things as having a tangible cash value, such as the amount of money deposited into a Chase account, rather than interpreting it as an opportunity to explore and replicate is a mistake.

The problem you will face is that the ‘rule makers’ (blogs, not banks) want to be perceived as experts, so will provide insight, and data points, but will hope to make a scalable system, that anyone can follow, when the secret to it all is that if you are following their rules, you are destined to eventually fail.