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Hi. This website is under construction. Come back March 1 and check out additional features. See Ten Reasons Michael values his membership in the Institute of Management ConsultantsConsulting EthicsI truly believe that if we don’t watch our behavior, someone will eventually push to enforce our behavior by social or professional rejection of the person, or preemptively by legislation. How many times have we heard someone in the spotlight say, “I didn’t do anything illegal,” when he or she was clearly unethical? And how many times did politicians then rush to legislate, sometimes not entirely wisely? Codes of Ethics don’t keep the unethical from their abominations, but well-written codes do school the ethically-minded in what is acceptable behavior or not. The key phrase is “well-written.” Such codes must be clear, simple and specific. They can’t just be filled with “make nice” statements. I love the statement Jim Robison wrote when he was CEO of Indian Head Mills. In part he said “We will not welsh, weasel, chisel or cheat. We will not be a party to any untruths, half truths, or unfair distortions.” Got it? How could anyone not get it. In 1924 The Atlantic Monthly printed an article by Lord Moulton in which Moulton said there are three great domains of human action. Positive law is at one end. Free choice is at the other. In between these ends is obedience to the unenforceable, the “obedience of a man to that which he cannot be forced to obey but where he is the enforcer of the law upon himself.” It is in this middle area of unenforcement where clear, specific codes of ethics can protect us from falling down in our own and our colleagues’ eyes. Over the next several months, we will explore ethical and professional standards as they apply to management consulting.
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