It's a matter of personality. There are people are rather messy and others are extremely tidy and organized. That's a factor.
There are people who have managed their whole lives to do anything without consequences and can continue to do so. There are people who have always taken everything seriously; I was in that category. From my first year of school, I was afraid of the consequences if I broke a rule. There are people like that, but there are also people for whom the rules aren't a problem and who never respect them.
There are such people in our microcosm as well. However, I have to say that senior public servants, order-in-council appointees or ministers, for example, are responsible people, by definition. That's what I've always said. Only a minority of these people, 5% or 10%, perhaps have an elastic conscience, as you say.