Business Ethics

An old article from 1997 the start of the dot.com bust, but Oh So True, and still is today.

Found here on Fast Company.

"There are as many lies in business as there are people in business."

Lie: "People are our most important asset."
Truth: "People are our most worrisome and unpredictable asset. Our most important assets are really our financial assets."
B.S. Detector: This may be the leading lie of our times. "When management starts talking about how important people are," LaFontaine says, "you can bet there is going to be an unpopular human resources decision coming soon."

People are replaceable. It’s often painful, but they are. Sure you can lose time, and knowledge, but everyone can be replaced. The minute you think they can’t be, you have a whole other set of issues.

I applaud companies to take this to heart. But nothing lasts forever. Anything given in good faith becomes an entitlement in a short amount of time, and it takes a purging to reset expectations.

Lie: "This was a rational decision."
Truth: "I wanted to do this."
B.S. Detector: People "want what they want just because they want it," says LaFontaine.

While this can certainly be a lie and often is, you can’t always label this one this way. There are too many variables. Too often those that label this statement as such simply don’t have the data to support it.

Certainly, there are those managers who “want to do this”, and if their folks don’t have the authority to question the decision and get back up for it then there again are other issues at play.

Lie: "We judge people by their performance."
Truth: "I judge your performance based on how much I like you."
B.S. Detector: "Why do most people who keep their jobs keep them?" LaFontaine asks. "Because the people they work for like them. And you get fired when the people you work for don't like you anymore.

This is unfortunately too true. Because this is true, and people want to be liked, they become “Yes Men (or women). As such, they do what ever is asked and that’s not always the right answer. It appears they are performing because they are doing what is asked but what’s being asked is often the wrong thing and they know it.

But rather than do what’s right, they do what will help them be liked. They aren’t going to make waves, or rock the boat. They fear not being liked, because that’s what helps them keep their job.

There’s a local company now going through this. Everyone is scared to death to speak up and help improve the performance of the company, for fear they won’t be liked. The last person that did was fired.

Folks that are leaving aren’t giving feedback as to why. They don’t want to burn bridges either.

Lie: "This is business, it isn't personal."
Truth: "Everything's personal."
B.S. Detector: "As people, we get mad at each other," says LaFontaine. "Attempts to avoid it are cowardly. So get mad. Then get over it and move on." LaFontaine believes that any disagreement can be handled with an honest conversation.

See above.

Everything IS personal. We are people. We have feelings and they get hurt. Get over it because it’s also a business. You owe it to the business to be personally involved. If you aren’t then you are in the wrong job.

Lie: "The customer comes first."
Truth: "I come first."
B.S. Detector: "More often than not, 'the customer' is an abstraction," LaFontaine warns. "People take care of customers when it benefits them and ignore customers when they can get away with it. Nobody says 'I come first,' which is what's usually going on."

Amen.

Technorati Tags: Five Business Lies, Five Business Truths

Every time I visit a Best Buy I walk out with the same feelings, and I swear I’ll never go back. But time passes, usually a couple months and I’ll need or want something and figure they are just as likely to have what I want as anyone else. Probably more likely so I give them another shot. Tonight was one of those nights.

I just replaced my cell phone. Now I know better. I know not to buy my accessories from the Verizon store. Nope, I don’t need to pay $30 for a car charger or $30 for a leather case. For $10, I can get everything I need on eBay plus another $5 for shipping.

But being impatient, I thought; what the hell, I’ll just pop into Best Buy and see what they have. I thought, if they did have a case in the $10 range I’d save the shipping and the time and just be done with it.

Walking in the place I’m hit up at the door, greeted I guess you could say. Does that make me feel welcome? No not really.

I know what I’m here for. I don’t know I’m sure that guys good for something but he’s certainly not as charismatic as the Walmart greeter up the road.

I go straight to the Cell phone aisle. There’s actually a couple aisles, but they were pretty clearly marked.

No sooner had I stepped foot in those aisles and I’m hit upon again. Do you need any help? “Nope, I know what I’m looking for”. I browse through the cases and chargers. I’m not paying $34.95 for a travel charger. They are $2.85 on ebay (+$5.00 shipping) all day long, as many as I can carry. So that’s no good. Nope, I’m not paying $29.95 for a car charger either; they too are $2.00 on eBay all day long.

Then I’m visited again, by employee number 3, “Can I help you find something?” “Nope, looking at Cell accessories, I think I’m in the right place”. I move over to the cases. They have a fabulous leather case, but it’s not my style, it’s nice but it’s pink. It’s also $40.00. I don’t like the wet suits, not for this phone. Then again, no more than 5 minutes later, another person, the 4th in total if you count the greeter, asks me again if I need help, or if she (a girl this time) can help me find what I’m looking for.

This time I bite; “Sure, I want a case for the RAZR, I’m looking at both the clips and/or maybe a leather case”. She reaches over and grabs the only clip they sell. It’s $20.00. I look at it, put the phone in it. It’s fine but the same thing is $3.00 on eBay. Now I know that Best Buy has rent to pay, and they have overhead that the eBay stores don’t. But nope, I’m not paying $20 for this either. It’s not what I had in mind.

I also don’t want to be hassled, 4 times in 15 minutes or less just for the privilege to shop there.

Normally, I’ll toy with them. Get them to show me some laptops and camcorders and ask about things that don’t make any sense. Can I record to DVD with this? While I’m holding up a Hi-8 camcorder to get them to explain the process, or have them really get into the details of what’s different between Windows XP and Home and why I should have one over the other. It’s often amusing.

I have walked out of Best Buy not buying more times than I can count because they are simply too damn aggressive.

They try to mask it as being helpful, but it’s not, it’s annoying.

Technorati Tags: Best Buy, Annoying, Sales Pressure, Sucks, Truth Hurts