Don’t Ride Along the Fence
I’m surprised to learn on a regular basis about yet another company that was caught doing something shady (or, in many cases, flat-out illegal), and is then somewhat perplexed that they got caught. Dubbed cynical by many people, I still find it surprising that more people have not learned to adapt to the fact that the truth will come out.
As I have continually advised people, it is wise to run your life as if everything you do is known by everyone. That is, assume you are completely unable to keep a secret, nor is anyone around you able to contain a secret. With such an attitude, you will rapidly discover that your choices, when it comes to ethics, become a lot clearer. In this age of information freedom, there is a strong likelihood that the above attitude is correct in any case.
This applies to all aspects of life – spouses having affairs, students cheating on tests or assignments, employees thinking about placing their hands in the till.
I don’t claim to be perfect. This way of thinking, however, has motivated my methods of working – keep it honest, play it straight, and don’t even think about bending the rules. With that backing, it’s much more difficult to find yourself in a situation where you may be embarrassed by having taken certain actions.
Related posts:
- Knowledge and Experience
- What’s Your Mindset?
- Lessons from Controlling Teenagers
- When You Feel You’ve Made It
- Trust is Earned when Given
