It seems "breaking rules,” or as my wife so eloquently calls "Situational Awareness," generates a range of emotions with people, which makes for a great tidbit. Especially given most people think Kanban is supposed to be "all about rules." (Hint, it's not)
I worked in the financial industry where, as you might imagine, rules and regulation reign supreme. It was in this region of rabid rigidity that I first learned the value of principles over blind lawfulness…a quick story.
One lucky aspect of the work I did allowed me to create a product for the board of directors and, as you can imagine, this put me in direct contact with them twice a year during weeklong board meetings. One thing I realized was all the "mandatory" rules we followed as peasants were routinely ignored for board members. Rules, it seemed, only held back those that chose to follow them.
Now, before we go Biblical, hear me when I say I never killed anyone at the request of the board. But things like password policy, lunch hours, mandatory meetings, request SLA's, were fair game for discarding. At first I thought "rules must be meaningless," but that got me in some trouble (a story for another day). I realized this was an example of knowing "WHEN to break the rules." The quote given to me was "it's like running a red light when your wife is in labor, or touching the monument that clearly said do not touch. It's the principles that matter most, not the rules." It's not about rebellion, but about knowing why the rule makes sense and what risk it addresses so you're empowered to decide whether to accept that risk or follow the rule. Of course there's still consequences, but I'd rather make sure my baby is born at the hospital...not at a red light.
I will leave you with a similar thought I offer during the Starting Kanban classes I facilitate: “before you go guns-a’blazin” ready to shoot sacred cows or running red lights, try taking a hard look at the rule and at least ask 'Why?' What risk does the rule mitigate? To what principle does it align.” At least then you can make the informed choice to follow or shoot it.