Back in the graduation days, our professor for POM (Principles of Management) who by the way looked like Chaplin with zero humor but acted like Hitler (an awesome goofy combo) used to say very eloquently, “I can teach you business but I cannot teach the ethics of business”. All I used to think was “Of course you can’t Chitler!”(Chaplin + Hitler, muhahaha).The reason being, firstly ethics wasn’t his subject and secondly, his role model was Mr.Dhirubhai Ambani!!! Well nothing against Mr. Ambani, he was quite brilliant, had an amazing vision, killer entrepreneur qualities but his rise to fame and money was riddled with a barrage of unethical decisions taken by him. But since the legendary player is long gone, I guess it’s fair to say in his defense, “Don’t hate the player… hate the game”.
In today’s business arena, the scenario suggests that the lesser we talk about ethics the better. And it shall be less, because it’s coming from me, someone who is considered to be born unethical. Personally I think it’s my unique quality, but professionally I have a theory & it goes like this, “Kya kare boss,paapi pet ke liye sab karna padta hai”. It’s not that the unethical practices done by me are justified by that line but in my defense, such practices are in a zone which creates a win-win scenario for all.
After all things could have been much worse, I could have cheated my way into being a prestigious member of the fodder scam or got caught adding pesticides in aerated drinks or be crowned the next Harshad Mehta! But I didn’t, my fault was (as the world says) tweaking facts a bit to make things look more rosy. In short, convincing people much before they are in doubt so as to eliminate any grievances in advance. It all depends on the start you’ve had & I had a tough one, when my principles were as tough as the hair on my head (it’s unbelievably hard without a gel). Not going into the rant of how my principles stood in the way of my success it would be easier to say shelving a few rules off the list kinda doubled my chances to succeed.
For all those starting out, sadly my example can’t be the one to follow but its sure can be the one to learn from. The choices of life have to be weighed in comparison to the damages it can do and the profits its can bring. The potent ones are those that have bigger collateral and will immediately or on one fine day come back to haunt you. Not endorsing unethical practices, it would be safer to say that they are a way of life and business today. Very few people can proudly say that they never endorsed any unethical activity and I am sure that a very few out of those few will be successful in today’s age. Ethics might not be directly proportionate to success but it sure is a variable factor that will influence your future and that of others.
This entire blog could have been a symphony of the importance of ethics in life and business, but I guess lying doesn’t come naturally to me when it isn’t profitable for anyone. But I do sincerely believe there is an alarm inside all of us which starts going tan-tan-tan when we are about to commit blasphemy and it’s necessary to not mute this alarm so that we don’t end being indicted for a tragedy that we didn’t intend to be a part of. They say “all is fair in love and war” but this is neither, this something bigger than that, this is life, so think twice as the decision, the consequences and the life, all three are yours!!!
In today’s business arena, the scenario suggests that the lesser we talk about ethics the better. And it shall be less, because it’s coming from me, someone who is considered to be born unethical. Personally I think it’s my unique quality, but professionally I have a theory & it goes like this, “Kya kare boss,paapi pet ke liye sab karna padta hai”. It’s not that the unethical practices done by me are justified by that line but in my defense, such practices are in a zone which creates a win-win scenario for all.
After all things could have been much worse, I could have cheated my way into being a prestigious member of the fodder scam or got caught adding pesticides in aerated drinks or be crowned the next Harshad Mehta! But I didn’t, my fault was (as the world says) tweaking facts a bit to make things look more rosy. In short, convincing people much before they are in doubt so as to eliminate any grievances in advance. It all depends on the start you’ve had & I had a tough one, when my principles were as tough as the hair on my head (it’s unbelievably hard without a gel). Not going into the rant of how my principles stood in the way of my success it would be easier to say shelving a few rules off the list kinda doubled my chances to succeed.
For all those starting out, sadly my example can’t be the one to follow but its sure can be the one to learn from. The choices of life have to be weighed in comparison to the damages it can do and the profits its can bring. The potent ones are those that have bigger collateral and will immediately or on one fine day come back to haunt you. Not endorsing unethical practices, it would be safer to say that they are a way of life and business today. Very few people can proudly say that they never endorsed any unethical activity and I am sure that a very few out of those few will be successful in today’s age. Ethics might not be directly proportionate to success but it sure is a variable factor that will influence your future and that of others.
This entire blog could have been a symphony of the importance of ethics in life and business, but I guess lying doesn’t come naturally to me when it isn’t profitable for anyone. But I do sincerely believe there is an alarm inside all of us which starts going tan-tan-tan when we are about to commit blasphemy and it’s necessary to not mute this alarm so that we don’t end being indicted for a tragedy that we didn’t intend to be a part of. They say “all is fair in love and war” but this is neither, this something bigger than that, this is life, so think twice as the decision, the consequences and the life, all three are yours!!!
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