Ethical challenges for new business models

According to Peter Diamandis, “some of the most potent innovation taking place today does not involve breakthrough technologies… but rather the creation of fundamentally new business models.”

The question that E&C professionals should ask now is “what are the compliance and ethical risks associated with these new models?”

Here are some thoughts:

  • The Crowd Economy (Uber, Airbnb, etc.) – Labor rights
  • The Free/Data Economy (Facebook, Google, etc.) – Privacy rights
  • The Smartness Economy (Amazon, SalesForce, etc.) – Loss of jobs
  • Closed-Loop Economies (The Plastic Bank, Eileen Fisher Renew, etc.) – Affordability
  • Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (Augur, Steem, etc.) – Liability
  • Multiple World Models (Second Life, Call of Duty, etc.) – Addiction
  • Transformation Economy (Burning Man, CrossFit, etc.) – Truth in advertizing

Will your business be affected by these new models? Of course it will.

Are you getting ready?

Same words, different meaning

I read The Daily Stoic every morning.

I have been doing so for the last 4 years. The daily meditation I read this morning is the same one I read on August 20th the 3 previous years. It is familiar by now. But because I am not the same person I was one year ago, that meditation offers something new.

Your employees feel the same effect when they hear you speak of the company values. Do not assume that because they’ve heard you speak of their importance in the past that there is no point in repeating the exercise. Your employees are not the same people they were before the pandemic or before witnessing the murder of George Floyd. When you speak of safety and respect today, they don’t hear what they heard last year.

Make it impossible to un-learn

My friends at Vega Factor teach motivation and performance using unforgettable stories, like the one of bounties for dead snakes in Delhi.

And my friends at Broadcat teach compliance with visual aids that cannot be unseen, like the poster that reads “Found gum on the ground? Don’t put it in your mouth. Found a USB on the ground? Don’t put it in your computer.”

What ethics or compliance problem are you facing today? What could you do or say about it that would be memorable and instantly change you employees’ perspective?

Election day

The current pandemic has demonstrated that most people do not have to be at the office to get the job done.

Which means that most employers could easily let their employees leave work for an hour or two to vote on election day.

In fact, a more perfect democracy would make election day a paid national holiday, a stand-down day for freedom and justice.

Until our “elected officials” choose to create a better election system, employers should do all they can to preserve their employees’ right to vote.

Self-preservation

People are asking if Biden’s administration will prosecute Trump after he leaves the office.

Answers include:

  • This is for the Department of Justice to decide and Biden will not interfere
  • It would be very unusual (in fact, it’s never been done before)
  • It might not be good for democracy
  • It could distract from the real work that needs to be done
  • It’s better to make sure that whatever Trump did cannot be done again
  • A new president should look forward, not backward
  • It’s a political time bomb
  • It could divide the country

Yes. All valid points.

But one basic, more personal reason seems to be missing: whoever first allows prosecution against his predecessor opens himself up to such prosecution.

A classic conflict of interest. Like the employee who riled against managers’ inflated bonuses until he became a manager, and then those bonuses were just fine and actually deserved.

Turn your attention

There is someone you know at work who could be voted “less likely to succeed.”

Not because of their lack of talent, skills, intelligence or hard work but because of the circumstances they grew up and still find themselves in.

Now is your chance to make a real difference in the world.

Rules and culture

The laws of a country either protect or prohibit certain activities. One country might protect specific activities (e.g. free speech, peaceful assembly, freedom of religion) while another country prohibits them. As a result, the two countries will have different cultures.

The same is true of companies. One might promote trust, respect and integrity while another does not. It’s easy to see how cultures will differ. In all cases, the cultures result from the “laws” in place – the written and unwritten policies.

If you want a different culture, simply change the rules.