Thanks to Tod Fetherling of galaxy.com (http://www.galaxy.com/) for this debunker idea and Tom Truitt of Southwestern Professional Service and Business Resources (http://www.thinkingahead.com/) for his input on this important topic of business ethics.

Tod wrote me last week: "Tom, a potential topic for a future <debunker> might be Rudeness - where is Emily Post when we need her most?  Over the past year, I have witnessed, as I am sure you have, more rude behavior than I have ever seen.  This includes employees, shareholders, customers and business associates lying, cheating and stealing, when the truth and ethical behavior would suit them just as well………."

A bell went off because I’ve seen this trend in rudeness myself:

• Not returning emails or phone calls (from business associates, customers, prospects, vendors, acquaintances)
• Calling a meeting and not showing up on time–or not showing up at all
• Calling a meeting and showing up being not prepared
• Calling a meeting and consciously leaving out key person or people
• Faking metrics on reports to (make you or your boss) look better
• Not showing up when a vendor appointment is scheduled or canceling on no notice
• Not responding to a vendor proposal (that you solicited)
• Not being willing to tell a vendor why they were not chosen
• Choosing a vendor for a cheesy reason like "more flash" (but less substance) or some sweetheart kick-back deal
• Not delivering product to a customer as promised
• Setting ridiculous deadlines for projects,
• Requiring an immense amount of work in a short time period–and then never bothering to look at it
• Stealing proprietary software products that your company developed
• Selling a product that you know isn’t ready for market and doesn’t work worth a damn yet
• Belittling co-workers just for the sport of it in front of others
• Spitting out press releases, ads, marketing messages that have only a grain of truth–that is, mostly spin--about your company and products
• Firing employees who "tell the truth" and are productive versus non-producers who have few business scruples

These are just a few examples of the deterioration of everyday business behavior and ethics over the last few years. Any of that sound familiar in your company? If not, you’re lucky–and you will have a competitive advantage over others.

Sure, some of this bad behavior has gone on for centuries and will always continue, but the level of abuse has escalated at a growing pace the last few years, especially in technology companies. An unprecedented lack of civility among employees, customers, vendors, Board members, investors makes a lot of corporations embarrassing and dysfunctional places to work these days.

How did these businesses get into such dire straits?

My theory is that this trend began in the rise of the dot.com world and accelerated during the Tech crash and market slowdown last year. This business context coupled with the mixing of very divergent worker types created the current trend in bad business behavior.

Until early 2000, things in the Tech world, in particular, had only been on the up, up, up, really since the late 1980’s. In the 1990’s tech companies proliferated, grew, and prospered at escalating pace. A lot of people got pretty fat and happy–even those who weren’t necessarily doing great things. Some people built blockbuster products, of course, but many were along for the ride. Most worked long hours, but it was pretty easy, in retrospect, to raise any amount of money with a marginal idea and minimal market need, and not only survive, but thrive--and even get rich (if you got out early). Arrogance reigned supreme in many of the poorly run dot.coms, technology, and other fat and happy companies. Arrogance run amuck in the late 1990’s started the bad behavior trend and sewed the seeds for the Tech crash itself.

Of course, the Tech debacle mitigated some of the arrogance, but it also exacerbated the trend in bad behavior. The rules changed. The pendulum swung. Business basics became important once again. Profits became more important than hype. The whole economy and business context changed for hundreds of thousands of tech workers and managers, as well as their investors, customers, and vendors. Many were and are still not prepared to handle it. Hundreds of companies have bit the dust already with hundreds more hanging by their fingernails.

In this new, fragile business context you also have several worker types that evolved and began clashing on an hourly basis in many companies–not positive confrontations of business ideas, but rather people treating other people NOT how they themselves would like to be treated. The Golden Rule is Missing in Action.

Here are the worker types:

• The young, well educated workers who have known only abundance their whole life (have never lived in a bad economy)…the politically correct generation…. Often smart, and highly motivated but whom have had little real business experience and little sense of the hard knocks world of business. A small minority made a bundle in the late 90’s, but the masses just survived are left to figure out what to do next. Most did not have a clue coming out of college or grad school and still don’t.
• Former sales and other non-technology "executives" who snuck into the technology world with their ability to schmooze, raise money, spread the hype, etc but who never understood (or cared to understand) the business at all. Most were good enough to fake it in the times of ultra prosperity. Amazingly, many are still around because no one else wants those jobs in pitifully performing companies–and because their gutless investors and Board members don’t know what to do with the companies (or their managers) either.
• Other miscellaneous (usually young) types who joined the Tech parade with few skills and minimal work experience. But companies needed bodies to fill empty slots, even though little tangible work was/is ever done. They are often the first to go in a lay-off; if they are unlucky they get to stay and decay in environments where no one cares about them.
• Seasoned IT, management and other business pros who never understood why the others didn’t get it: that nothing is a guarantee without good strategy, execution, teamwork and that profits are what count at the end of the day. These folks were particularly abused in some companies and were often seen as "crying wolf." Today they are the only hope for those companies hanging on by their fingernails.

Mix in the spin boys and spin girls who encouraged the hype, the exaggeration, the outright lies (and still can’t help themselves today) and you have hundreds of powder kegs of deficient ethics. The result has been panic, general malaise, poor productivity, lay-offs that rid companies of truth tellers before the others, more stupid policies and procedures, increased high tech security controls on employees, and tons of bad behavior.

So maybe the result can be explained, but it certainly cannot be condoned. What’s to happen now to all of these companies riddled with bad behavior? It is definitely too late for many. It’s only a matter of time until they self-destruct and their people find other places to work. No great loss other than to their respective investors. Some can be saved, perhaps, but how?

It has to happen starting at the top. Junk the pompous and hypocritical mission statements re: being the "intergalactic leader and doer of all good deeds," "caring for all customers no matter how large or small," "our employees are our number one asset," and other such nonsense. Companies with serious business behavior problems need to instead re-state their respective missions: 1) We are in ________ business to make a profit and 2) We are going to do that via the Golden Rule. Pick a version of the Golden Rule (see below) that you like best. Here are a few to chose from:

Bah"

And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosiest for thyself.
_Epistle to the Son of the Wolf_, 30

Hindu Faith

This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee would cause thee pain.
The Mahabharata

Jewish Faith

What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.
The Talmud

Zoroastrian Faith

Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others.
Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29

Buddhist Faith

Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.
Udana-Varga

Christian Faith

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
The Gospel of Matthew Matt 7:12, Luke 6:31

Muslim Faith

No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.
Hadith

Here’s a link to more versions of the Golden Rule:

The Golden Rule

For those companies with behavior problems, trust me, there’s nothing to lose.

Let me know what you think and I'll publish your comments on the www.nospinmarketing.com website. If you have a business practice that you'd like to debunk yourself, you can be a guest debunker. Thanks for your comments to date!

NoSpin Debunkers are free weekly online newsletters written by Tom Ranseen. If at anytime you would like to be removed from the NoSpin Debunker reader list, please Unsubscribe. Otherwise, enjoy, join the conversation, and please forward this debunker to as many friends/acquaintances as you think may be interested–or send me their email addresses. Thanks.

Tom Ranseen NoSpinMarketing 615.383.7157