I didn’t do it

“You shouldn’t do indirectly what you wouldn’t do directly.”

We often think of this rule when hiring sales agents. Sales agents should not be used to do things that our own sales force could not do, like paying bribes.

There is a corollary to this rule. It might sound like this: “If you should do it directly, make sure you also do it indirectly.”

Say that you always do a background check on your hires. If you decide to use a labor provider, then you should insist that their background checks are as rigorous as your own.

Behavioral science found that humans can better tolerate wrongdoing when they are not the ones engaged in it. So the vigilant E&C professional will always scrutinize relationships between her organization and its partners.