An article in this weekend’s New York Times magazine caught my attention: Do you suffer from decision fatigue? Good question…not just in our personal lives but in our corporate environments as well. Routinely, companies and governments and other organizations commit to act with integrity, then fail to make the decisions needed to achieve and/or sustain [...]
Read the rest of the story »Moving from personal integrity to corporate integrity
Most people understand ‘personal’ integrity. Most people can tell you the origins of their own sense of integrity. For me, personal integrity is built on the ethical values shared in my family and the many communities I’m connected to… combined with the moral lessons of my Christian faith…supplemented by professional accountabilities as a lawyer. Yet what [...]
Read the rest of the story »Blind spots in corporate management
In my last blog, I talked about our fear of blind spots in reactions to ‘natech disasters’ (natural hazards triggering technological disasters). The super high radiation leads from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan make everyone nervous. Individual countries and the nuclear energy industry will have to choose how to update safety standards for [...]
Read the rest of the story »Nuclear Energy and Corporate Integrity: Can we see our blind spots?
When I was a kid growing up on a farm in south-western Ontario: Every birthday, my mom made my favourite… a red velvet cake…using a full bottle of red food colouring in every cake. My dad burned all our garbage in a barrel, and used DDT to kill weeds in the crops. We watched the [...]
Read the rest of the story »Sneak Preview: An online corporate integrity learning community coming soon!
Most corporations would agree—integrity has always been a critically important value for organizations and institutions. Yet in our increasingly globalized and interconnected world, integrity is no longer assumed. It’s ironic—our level of connectivity has never been so high, and our level of trust in organizations has never been so low. Organizations need to learn how [...]
Read the rest of the story »Mistakes were made (but not by us)
A friend loaned me an intriguing book titled Mistakes Were Made (but not by me). It’s written by two psychologists, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson. They ask: Why do humans share the impulse to justify ourselves and avoid taking responsibility for any actions that turn out to be harmful, immoral or stupid? It’s a fascinating [...]
Read the rest of the story »Corporate repentance: The art of apology
When a company causes harm, we demand accountability (e.g. liability, fines). And, we expect an apology….a sincere apology. In my early days in the oil patch, no corporate spokesperson would have dared to apologize without stern coaching from a lawyer. You wouldn’t want to assume legal liabilities without a fair trial. Many companies have [...]
Read the rest of the story »Are Lawyers and Accountants failing to keep capitalism honest?
I’m a lawyer, and I’m married to an accountant. Our eldest son writes his Chartered Accountancy exam this fall. Not surprisingly, a headline in the Sunday New York Times newspaper denouncing the integrity of lawyers and accountants caught my attention: “Lawyers and Accountants Once Put Integrity First” Just two days ago, I was invited to [...]
Read the rest of the story »Integrity Quiz June 18th: What do you think?
June 18th Integrity Quiz: 1. Should the U of Alberta dean of medicine have been forced to resign for plagiarizing a graduation speech? 2. Big Tobacco wants Aboriginal smoke shacks on reserves to be regulated, and has launched a $1.5 billion lawsuit against contraband tobacco manufacturers and retailers on First Nations reserves. Is Big [...]
Read the rest of the story »Our world IS changing!
It’s easy to get cynical and believe that change isn’t happening. Want to shake that chill? Just take a quick look at the announcments in today’s news alone. 1. Saudi women are driving. They are challenging the archaic rules that ban them from driving cars, a pretty basic act in the rest of the world. [...]
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