Business, industry, and government have been experiencing a lot of bad luck in trying to maintain an acceptable set of standards and ethics. Much effort has been wasted in establishing rules, procedures, and controls, which are largely ignored. It appears that only a foolish few on the inside of any given organization will speak out about what they know about corruption and dishonesty. (It has been normal in the past to equate "corruption" with public officials, both elected and appointed, but individuals in the private sector are learning how it is done.) When they do speak up, they are inevitably punished, ostracized, and, in some extreme cases, fired and black-balled within their industry. Small wonder that few brave hearts will ever "blow the whistle".
Our country’s organizations, both public and private, should not operate on the schoolboy morality. When we were young, there was some unwritten code that each young person acquired from their peers, that "telling on someone" was not acceptable behavior. The result was isolation from one’s friends, although even this didn’t last forever.
Now we are presumably all adults in the business world, but the adult game is to beat the system. Maybe someone should try to move us away from the schoolground morality. Here are The Cynic’s observations on the rules that a lot of organizations are using. Is there room for improvement?
Avoid Paying Taxes!
If you send money to Washington, they’re just going to spend it. We’re all better off if we let the under-employed send in their pittances, but don’t let those clowns inside the Beltway have any serious money to squander.
Cheat Your Customers!
What they don’t find out won’t hurt them. If your product or service is inferior and/or over-priced, you can always refund money to the few who complain (if you determine their complaints might cause you even more trouble with some regulatory agency). The Lord would not have made so many "sheep", if he hadn’t intended them to be shorn.
Squeeze Your Employees!
There’ s always more where those came from. If they’re unhappy, they can be replaced. Keeping employees afraid and intimidated reduces requests for raises or better benefits. No one is loyal to the company, so why be loyal to the employees?
Beat the Competition!
If you don’t cheat to get the contract, the competition will. It’s a matter of beating them to the first punch. Low bids aren’t real; you can always get more money on changes and inflated cost figures. After you are half way through the job, is the customer going to cancel out and start over? Those government employees are the easiest to fool, because they are so afraid of their jobs, they won’t blow the whistle on your cost over-runs. It would make them look bad!
Ignore Regulations!
The government is always interfering with business. These inspectors and auditors are always bugging you about dumping wastes, safety standards, employees’ rights, working hours, overloaded circuits, or something else ridiculous. You can tell these guys never had to meet a payroll or a deadline. They keep forgetting that they work for the taxpayers like me.
