August 13, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Keeping Your Soul
August 13, 2011 at 3:31 pm
To offset the demise of a few GOOGLE apps, realize that:
Early in the formation of Google.org, Google took the value of 10% of the 3 million shares from Google's initial public stock offering and used those funds to establish the tax-exempt Google Foundation
I refer you and others to:
http://www.google.org/foundation.html
On the above site are the foundations reports for tax purposes to the U.S. Treasury Internal Revenue service
If I reading it correctly the tax return for 2005 shows a donation of 90,000,000.00
So all is not bad -
August 14, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Good note Steve ... about not trading one's soul. I would like to change the following though:
From: I would certainly rather make a million dollars ethically than a billion dollars compromising my values.
To: I would certainly rather make a million dollars ethically than a 2 million dollars compromising my values.
August 14, 2011 at 3:26 pm
"However the chances of hitting it big are like the chances of hitting the lottery."
According to my friends at Discovery Capital, technology startups have about one-in-seven chance to make their founders a million or more.
I guess they have no numbers for a billion or more. 🙂
August 14, 2011 at 5:49 pm
I think the problem is that once you take outside investment (whether it is a private investor who buys in for a large share, or going public), you are forced to value profit over whatever ethics you personally hold dear. So you get to choose between using only your own funds to grow the company, or "selling your soul" and hoping you can PR your way out of any trouble.
-- Stephen Cook
August 14, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Someone very smart once said, "What does it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his soul?" Great post
August 14, 2011 at 7:29 pm
To your point of preferring to make a million honestly over a billion dishonestly...
Obviously most people follow that path in life. The portion of society that doesn't contains criminals of all kinds, including the Martha Stewarts we all hear about. It could be because they are afraid of getting caught, or because they just have good values. The point is most of us choose to do the right thing most of the time.
There are of course variations in what the right thing is. If you get change from the store and receive an extra dollar, do you give it back? What about if you already left the store and are in the parking lot? On the way home? Already 30 miles away?
When it comes to running a company, unfortunately people's views get swayed a bit. Is it dishonest or unethical to lay off staff if it saves the jobs of 1000 other people? Are you doing it because you want to make that bonus, which will end up giving you 50% of the net profit the company makes? Are you ok with taking advantage of information you gained improperly but that will result in you gaining market share over a competitor?
The difference is that robbing a bank is something you are likely to get caught at, but breaking the law as a CEO or other executive rarely is caught, and even when it is prosecution is almost non existent.
Personally, I have refused to do things many times because they were unethical or illegal. In most of those cases the manager I reported to understood when I explained, and usually changed their mind. I won't work for someone who asks me to compromise my own values.
Dave
August 15, 2011 at 1:42 am
If you have $75000 annual income ethical, no path to grow that income, and one-time opportunity for $1 million bonus not-so-ethical-- what would you do?
_________________
"Look, those sheep have been shorn."
data analyst replies, "On the sides that we can see.."
August 15, 2011 at 7:06 am
katesl (8/15/2011)
If you have $75000 annual income ethical, no path to grow that income, and one-time opportunity for $1 million bonus not-so-ethical-- what would you do?
Stick at 75k and look for a new job. As soon as a boss asks me to do something unethical, I'd be looking for new work, but that department or company is going to be in trouble at some point.
This is a good editorial. I think it's important to know what you believe and why, then live it. It isn't easy and everybody blows it at some point, but the real measure is how you respond when you do blow it.
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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August 15, 2011 at 7:42 am
katesl (8/15/2011)
If you have $75000 annual income ethical, no path to grow that income, and one-time opportunity for $1 million bonus not-so-ethical-- what would you do?
Report the ethics vilolation to my manager and/our HR. Fill out a Corporate Ethics violation report detailing the incident. Saving the planet, society, and keeping the unethical out of power is worth more than any job or any bonus. 😎
August 15, 2011 at 7:53 am
Nice article Steve. It realy hit home for me. There is an entire industry that is right now exploiting causing permanent and iriversable damage to our supply of fresh drinking water. The entire industry is an Ethics Violation that is poluting the natural water table and water sheds under the lable of "Clean and Cheap Natrual Gas". There is nothing Natural about it.
If you would like to learn more or take action here is a link.
August 15, 2011 at 7:55 am
Jack Corbett (8/15/2011)
This is a good editorial. I think it's important to know what you believe and why, then live it. It isn't easy and everybody blows it at some point, but the real measure is how you respond when you do blow it.
Yeah, I agree that eventually everyone does blow it. I don't think it is necessarily deliberately, and maybe sometimes it isn't that we know we are doing so. But sooner or later we probably all do.
Heck, I remember a book I read years ago about how a decent cop could write tickets for brand new cars straight off the assembly line, about 3-10 per car! While things may have changed, it is telling that we could break the law with a brand new car just by sitting in it...
Dave
August 15, 2011 at 7:58 am
SanDroid (8/15/2011)
katesl (8/15/2011)
If you have $75000 annual income ethical, no path to grow that income, and one-time opportunity for $1 million bonus not-so-ethical-- what would you do?Report the ethics vilolation to my manager and/our HR. Fill out a Corporate Ethics violation report detailing the incident. Saving the planet ...is worth more than any job or any bonus. 😎
Except we now have proof that the unethical have been lying about what is required to save the planet, so be careful who you trust. Further, are you suggesting if you got a job at a sewage plant you would quit because dumping treated sewage into rivers is bad? I agree with your other points, but your comment supports the concept that everyone has their own view of what is right and wrong.
Dave
August 15, 2011 at 8:01 am
The obvious problem is knowing what a soul is. Even avoiding a discussion of the supernatural, and changing to a word like ethical, there are still dilemas that are not solved. There has never been a rule book written that we all can agree on.
The link to the article starts with a quote from the Scrooge story. That quote comes after Scrooge has forgotten why he wanted to be rich. His plan was to first be comfortable, then he could think about raising a family. Very few people choose to "sell their soul". It happens slowly, with small choices that seem right at the time.
August 15, 2011 at 8:10 am
SanDroid (8/15/2011)
If you would like to learn more or take action here is a link.(link removed)
Just because someone makes a movie doesn't make it true. Global warming has been pushed as "real science" for so long a lot of people now believe it. NASA released data a couple weeks ago that PROVED the data these so called scientists at the UN were using was false! I am not going to waste time viewing your link, but I seriously doubt that fracking, or whatever that movie is against, could really contaminate the planet's water supply.
Where I live enviromentalists claim that we are destroying our water supply by using too much. Really? A completely recoverable resource, managed by the sun's rays causes all water to cycle through our environment - yet people shouldn't use as much?
There are things we all know are wrong like stealing, blowing children up in terrorist attacks, and cheating on your spouse. There are things some people think are wrong depending on their religious or other beliefs, and there are a lot of discrepancies between the major religions! Then there are things the media tells us are wrong with no proof, designed to transfer wealth where the media thinks it needs to be. If polluting is so bad, why does the US encourage companies to move jobs to countries with no pollution controls? It isn't about right or wrong when it is based on one person's opinion that he/she wants everyone else to adhere to.
I am of the opinion that a lot of people here will share the view that being asked to do something wrong would lead them to look for employment elsewhere. I also know that what each of us considers wrong is going to differ quite a bit.
Dave
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