HBR IdeaCastThe Right Way to Manage Rule Breakers
Jun 16, 2026 · 20 min
Most leaders assume that when employees break rules, punishment is the answer. But according to researcher Michael Gill, associate professor at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School, that mindset overlooks a crucial reality: not all rule breaking is self-serving, and some of it may actually help organizations perform better. He explains his research synthesizing more than 250 studies and d…