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Rule zero
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The term "Rule Zero" has a two different definitions. 1. Role-Playing Game Context In tabletop role-playing games (for example, Dungeons & Dragons), "Rule Zero" is the unwritten rule granting the game master the right to suspend or override the published game rules whenever he or she deems necessary. This is sometimes criticized as giving the game master too much power, but many contend that the spirit of Rule Zero is to allow quick adjudication of conflicts and avoid having lengthy discussions of rules interrupt a game. 2. Organizational Behavior Context "Rule Zero" is also a rule, codified by the satirist D. Dolson Dolson, stating that in large organizations, image not only completely trumps reality, but image actually becomes reality. The simplest statement of Rule Zero is "Image is reality." Rule Zero is also the title of a book explaining the rule and its various corollaries. The corollaries are as follows: Rule One states that apparent activity is more important than activity, and activity is more important than accomplishment. Rule Two states that "Words speak louder than actions." Rule Three states that "Correlation is causation... whenever upper management wants it to be." Rule Four states that degrees are more important than knowledge, and job titles are more important than experience. Rule Five states that cheating usually pays. Rule Zero and its corollaries, along with the "Dolson Principle," which states that "the higher the management level, the easier the job" (the Dolson Principle is compatible with the Dilbert Principle, and partially contradictory to the Peter Principle), form the basis of a cynical and only partially facetious worldview that most organizational behavior is a sham and a farce. 
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