I was working on the post about whiners and complainers and ran across the following in a transcript of a speech on Today’s Ethics Yield Tomorrow’s Behavior by Lynn Turner posted at the Security and Exchange Commission web site.
“One thing you have not heard from me today is a discussion about “Business Ethics”. That’s because the term ‘Business Ethics’ conveys to the public and our youth that in business we practice a lesser level of ethics than is acceptable in general. And that is not a perception we want to convey, for perceptions become reality. Business ethics becomes a slippery slope, a slow trickle. It is like the dam on a lake where I used to go boating. Ten years ago the engineers noted a deviation in the lakebed. A few years later a small leak was found below the dam. The one small leak turned into several and eventually a wetlands. Today, the lake is drained, and the dam undergoing major reconstruction.
And that is just what happens to those in business who choose to make just a minor deviation to fix the current problem. Your actions begin with a trickle that invariably turns into a burst dam. And at that time there will be only devastation for you, your family and those who you have hurt. So let’s not think in terms of business ethics, but only the highest set of ethical standards that we all should strive for.”