Why do employees break the rules? Let me take the liberty to focus on reasons that appear to be surfacing more often today according to my experiences (and those of a number of colleagues to whom I spoke for this piece).
Rule breaking is driven by personal attitude, the environment employees operate in, and external pressure, which cause employees to make decisions at the spur of the moment to either follow or break the rule. The same rule can be broken for different reasons at different times. Following rules is a fluid and dynamic activity throughout the day. Given the right pressure, even the best-of-the-best employee will break the rules.