We can’t roll time backward. We
have to build systems that make future breakdowns much less likely,
writes columnist Jac Fitz-enz.
No one likes bad news. The worse the news, the
less we want to hear about it, especially when it deals with issues that
make us sick to our stomach.
Consider natural disasters such as
the earthquake in Haiti or tsunami in Japan. Horrible death and
destruction rained on thousands of people. There is little or nothing we
can do about those calamities. Compare that to the Penn State Jerry
Sandusky case. That is a failure of human proportions that we should do
something about. Maybe that is why we want to put it behind us. It
reminds us of our faults as human beings.
I mentioned the five
aspects of life in an earlier column — integrity, health, family, career
and all else. The Sandusky case is a classic example of integrity
failure, and it is a talent management issue. The most important things
in life and work are integrity, values, ethics and morality. When we
fail in this area we damage our core. It is so revolting that when
something happens beyond the pale, even close friends deny it because
they can’t accept it.
At Penn State, months after data showed Joe
Paterno was aware of Sandusky’s sexual crimes against children and did
nothing, his fans refuse to accept “JoePa’s” guilt. If he had lived and
accepted his guilt, some fans would still make alibis for him. It’s
discomfiting to see our heroes fall.
We can’t roll time backward. We have to build systems that make
future breakdowns much less likely. Human beings will fail just as
floods will occur. But we can lessen the likelihood of a flood by
building a system of channels and dams. With integrity issues we can do
three things.
First, teach the principles of integrity across our
educational system from kindergarten through universities. In the early
days of public education, ethical behavior was part of the curriculum.
Students were taught how to think and comprehend the damage that
misconduct inflicts on society. These issues are the bedrock of a
civilization. Yet, in the last half of the 20th century, business
schools set that aside in favor of management skills emphasizing
material gain.
Secondly, we can design management systems that
make it difficult for someone to do wrong. The stock market
manipulations that cost companies and individuals billions could have
been prevented. They weren’t, because oversights were not developed and
greed overrode honesty. For a CEO to say he doesn’t know what is
happening is an admission of criminal negligence. Our current global
economic fiasco is not about liquidity, but solvency. Politicians in the
U.S. and Europe have set aside their fiduciary responsibility to
citizens to keep themselves in office and pander to special interest
groups.
Finally, we need to punish wrong-doers. This does not mean
finding a scapegoat or two. It means wholesale housecleaning of
executives and politicians who ignore or support malfeasance. Millions
of people in the U.S. were financially wiped out as a result of
derivative real estate manipulations. This was a heinous crime. Yes,
some top executives lost their jobs, but they received
multimillion-dollar payouts on their way out the door.
But, how many people on Wall Street or at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
or the U.S. Treasury department went to jail over the derivatives and
real estate disasters? Government leaders take an oath to be accountable
to us.
I am upset, but I don’t believe I am an alarmist. I do
believe that the American Dream my immigrant grandparents sought and
built is very close to being a nightmare. The principles I was taught in
civics class are hard to find in our government today. One does not
have to be a wild-eyed radical aimed at overthrowing society to be
frightened by what one sees every day. The middle class, the core of
every prosperous nation, is being marginalized. The poor are more
helpless and deprived than at any time since the 1930s.
It is
time to rebuild integrity at every level in every aspect of America.
That includes our talent development and management systems.
by Jack Fitz-enz
No comments:
Post a comment