From time to time, someone will tell you that a move you just did isn’t allowed, that you “can’t do it that way.” They will mock you and say you are cheating … I say, fuck ’em!

Tell them that you will not yield to their contrivance bullshit. That just because they lack imagination and didn’t see what you saw doesn’t mean that you should do it their way.

In climbing, a contrivance is when another climber purposefully narrows the scope of the established route. They’ll say, “That hold isn’t on.” Or, “If you rest there, it lowers the grade.” They usually say it because you just figured out an easier way up their project and they are looking to limit or undermine you.

Know the rules, of course, but it’s okay if you bend them and find unexpected ways to work within them. That is creativity. As long as I can clip the bolts, don’t fall or take on the rope, and clip the anchors, I am going to do it the way I want to.

The contrivance is trying to force a particular move and limit you to just one way of succeeding.

That said, not all contrivances are bad. A contrivance can be used as a training tool, to test you, see if you can do moves in a new way, and to build strength.

One positive form of contrivance is called the Eliminate. This is just like it sounds: we purposefully skip holds to force us to do bigger moves. This type of training tool is especially useful when we’ve done most of the routes at our main crags and have to find creative ways to train by making the routes more difficult.

A contrivance should only be used to build you up, not tear someone else down. Used for good, it increases strength. Used for evil, it makes someone feel bad about themselves. (And it makes you look like a jerk.) Never make someone feel like crap for the way they do a move. If they did it, they did it. Maybe push them to master it and make it pretty, but that’s it. Never make them feel bad.

We all have different perspectives, different ways of looking at things and of doing things. It can be difficult to accept that there are multiple answers to the same problem, several ways through the maze. There is no one right way. There is a right way for you. But forcing someone (or everyone) to do it the same way as you, just because you think your way is best, isn’t useful or kind. What is the best way for them?

Of course, I’m not just talking about climbing here. I’m talking about all sources of conflict where we assume our way is the only way, things like religion, politics, economic theories — any alternative ways of thinking about or looking at the world.

Don’t let yourself off easy, as you do when you dismiss someone else or call them stupid simply because you can’t understand their perspective. It’s possible that you aren’t even looking at the same holds. Almost always it is possible for both ways to exist simultaneously and that both can get you to the anchors.