A few days ago I bumped into Clayton Christensen's article, How Will You Measure Your Life? It was part of the corporate material that the company I work for shares with its employees. It is a nice reading, I highly recommend it, and made me think.
In addition to many other pieces of advice, Christensen recommends not to fall even once into the temptation of giving up our principles to achieve our dreams and our goals. Repetitively renouncing our believes and moral standards makes humans deeply unhappy and no personal achievements seem to compensate and bring happiness back.
Apparently, betraying our principles is one of the main sources of personal failure in the world. He gives a simple recipe that seems that if applied would stop this source of struggle. He points out that it is easier to be true to ourselves 100% of the times, than 98%. In a world where humans are used to demand immediate reward, this approach is difficult to keep, above all, when, once we have granted ourselves the right to stop doing what we believe is right, we tend to justify ourselves over and over.
But, what it takes to give up our principles? Christensen does not answer this question, most likely because it might take different things to different people. I believe that when people think that the "cause is so noble that it is worth the personal sacrifice" they start giving up.
What is then a noble cause? I do not know. And that is where my confusion starts. No cause can be noble when it demands people to give up their principles. And we are suddenly back on square one. So why do we end up inside these moral traps? I see three options (might be more):
- We don't, because in reality we do not have any principles. Amoral people exist.
- We lie to ourselves and try to convince everyone that we can still be happy even if we betray our principles.
- We change our principles so that we momentarily feel relieved because the end justifies the means.
And what about companies and their values? When does a company give up on its core values and becomes permissive to those that achieve the results but fail to keep their principles? I guess that with so many people already giving up themselves in their personal lives, those same people might see justified that the company, which is no other thing that the sum of all its employees, also betrays its values from time to time. This fact exposes why employees might believe that their company conducts business in an unethical manner. They answer honestly: they might have already been "forced" to betray their own principles because of the company they work for. Can a company where most of its employees feel like that survive in the long run? No. How do they justify their evolution with such a professional perspective?
- They don't, because in reality they do not care. Big bosses leave with their pockets full and trouble behind.
- They lie to themselves and try to convince employees that they can still be rewarded professionally even if they betray their own principles.
- They change their principles so that they momentarily feel relieved because the end justifies the means: they have survived the crisis.
I wonder, is it possible to become a successful professional without ever renouncing to our principles? Is integrity compatible with success? I want to believe that it is. I'd love to hear what successful professionals would answer, hoping that, when answering, they would not be lying to themselves :P
