I had breakfast this AM with a friend who was released from his job last Friday for being deceitful in his calculation of cost and gross margin. He’s paid on gross margin from sales.
He said that he rationalized his actions as “every one was doing it” and it wasn’t that “big a deal”. Tears swelled up in his eyes as he conceded the dishonesty and pain that his actions have caused. There may be legal implications.
We talked about “living in the gray” and how we are prone to cut corners to make a few more dollars or to satisfy our other self indulgent needs.
I’m thinking that a good New Year’s resolution may be a good look in the mirror for self examination purposes. Am I being deceitful in my job or in my marriage?
Paul suggested that very thing when he said:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”
Mike Cowart Sr.
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January 5th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Hey there,
This is a topic that is brought up all the time in my career. I work as a psychotherapist and I have billable time to account for every day. Management always encourages us to make sure we meet our time every day and you really have to be creative about your billing.
I am a new therapist. Only graduated from Grad school 3 years ago. I always thought I wanted to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. My last 3 jobs has made my self confidence suffer. I do not want to work in a job where there are any dishonest practices. But, it is set up that if you don’t “play the game” you will not be working there for long.
It is a struggle for me. I understand the gray area very much. I was taught in my ethics classes on what to do. But, sometimes it is not so realistic.
Thank you for writing about this.