The Right Way to Manage Rule Breakers
6/16/202621 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 details the four main motivations behind why people break rules, why repeated violations may signal deeper organizational problems, and how leaders can distinguish harmful misconduct from employees trying to help customers, colleagues, or the business itself. Learn more in the HBR article How the Best Leaders Respond to Rule Breaking.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Alison Beard· Host0:19
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Michael Gill· Guest0:45
[upbeat music] Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Gill, and you've tuned in to the Harvard Business Review Idea Cast. Don't worry, I have Alison Beard with me here as well.
Alison Beard· Host1:13
Hi, everyone.
Michael Gill· Guest1:14
But we wanted to switch things up a bit today because I recently contributed to an HBR article about rule-breaking in organizations and how leaders can manage it.
Alison Beard· Host1:25
And so while Adi and I typically introduce all of our episodes, our producer Mary agreed