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Oil Spills, Financial Meltdowns And Us
By Larry Barkan
Here is one of the “core values” of a company I know you are familiar with: “Responsibility: “We are committed to the safety and development of our people and the communities and societies in which we operate. We aim for no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment.” Here is one of the “Business Principles” of another company you know: “Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business.
We expect our people to maintain high ethical standards in everything they do, both in their work for the firm and in their personal lives.” The first company is British Petroleum. The second is Goldman Sachs. Oops and oops. In the first “oops” (British Petroleum), I guess their aim was off when they said they “aim for no accidents.” In the second “oops” (Goldman Sachs), maybe they didn’t mean all of “our people,” just some of them. At least Toyota had the decency to not put “safety” as one of its core values on their web site. This of course, is not unusual. If you check the “core values” of companies that have gotten into trouble, you’ll often find that their core values include some form of “honesty, integrity and trust.” In 1982, seven people died after taking Extra Strength Tylenol that had been laced with potassium cyanide. Johnson and Johnson, the makers of Tylenol, received well deserved praise for immediately ordering a nation wide recall of all Tylenol products even before it was determined that the source of the problem had been product tampering and not human error. In other words, Johnson and Johnson received praise for simply doing the right thing. Seemingly, this is such a rare occurrence that this case is used in business schools to teach how a company should behave in a crisis. I am outraged when a company lacks the integrity to live its core values and I want these companies held accountable. But companies can’t really be held accountable, only the people in those companies can. Someone, not “the company,” made the decision to fight the installation of safety equipment on the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, to sell short the very financial products it was telling its customers to buy, to use materials that, in the words of Toyota, “create surfaces (that) may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly.” And, in the case of Tylenol, it was a person who ordered the removal of the product from store shelves. In our personal lives, our lapses in integrity may not produce a massive oil spill or threaten the world economy or jeopardize lives. But they do have consequences for our important relationships. I think of times when I said I’d be on time and wasn’t. Times when I said I’d be some place and I failed to show. Times when I said I’d be patient and I wasn’t. Times when I said I’d be honest and I shaded the truth. Times when I said I’d be courageous and I acted cowardly. Times when I… You get the picture. The challenge isn’t really for a “company” to live its core values but for each of us, as individuals, to do so. We have to hold ourselves accountable for living our “core values” before we can hold others to the same standard.
I have been an author, motivational speaker and business consultant since 1984. I have three passions: The first is my wife of 37 years. The second is challenging conventional wisdom. The third is dogs and their welfare. I am the author of "Everyone Wins! Playing The Game of Conflict Resolution In All Your Relationships" as well as "Present and Persuade: Create Talks and Speeches That Capture Hearts and Change Minds."
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Hi, Larry, You have struck upon the thing that is so apparent today - lack of moral fibre! We live in an age when it is always someone else's fault. We live in an age when the buck doesn't actually stop. Damn it! We live in an age when we have the inalienable human right to be that little gap in an anal sphincter!
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
"Gap in an anal sphincter!" I love it! Have you seen any of the hearings? Amazing how there was this massive oil spill and no one is responsible. Darn that God! He did it again!
We know that "greed" is at the top of the Oil business, the Insurance Industry, The Banking Industry and the Government Contracts Industries. However, they all donate too much to our congressmen, for our congress to clamp down on their Thievery.
Keep up the good work, Larry, maybe citizens might read these and react responsibly.
Best wishes.
Frederick
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks, Frederick. I'm always amazed that the congress people themselves don't want to change the campaign finance laws. I've heard they spend as much as four hours each day "begging" for money. It's unbelievable. Or maybe too believable.
Of course the solution is simple. Companies should just not have any core values. This would leave the critics without any work because they would have nothing to measure against if a company falls short. This could also work on a personal level as well. The other solution is not so simple. Learning from mistakes is a harder way to discover areas which need attention. Sometimes it is the only way to learn. Some mistakes are just bigger than others.
outstanding intel. The first challenge for us all is to identify our core values and the next step is to sit down and examine the way in which we live. if the way in which we live is not aligned with our core values then we need to make some changes such that it is.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks for responding. Every time I want to blame others for not living their values, I pass a mirror and go,"Oops." Which is not to excuse those who don't, just to understand that it's human beings who run these companies.
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