Oops that DBR was a typo...should have been DBA. I was using an example which happened to me at one point in my career. I got it well documented as to what my concerns were and made sure I had a document from the higher up that they were aware of my concerns but still wanted the permission granted. When the person 'screwed things up', they tried to say they didn't have the permissions to do what I claimed they did. I reminded them they were SA and had monitoring that showed they were the one at the time as SA and did the 'screw up'. I got a bonus from management for fixing the issue and they immediately had me revoke the permissions.

While that example was extreme, the point is that sometimes we have to go against the best practice so the business can function. There are some DBAs that stick to their rules regardless if there is a business need to make an exception - those DBAs I wouldn't consider 'functional'....then there are the DBAs that realize to make business function you have to make exceptions at times. But those exceptions need to be documented and monitored.

-SQLBill