This entry is part 1 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics One of the first questions to pass between meeting strangers in the United States is the simple question, “What do you do for work?” The time we spend on our careers cannot but help to mold who we are as a person. […]
Producing Real Value
This entry is part 2 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics The very first entry in my Conscious Business Ethics: A Manifesto, listed under the Hard Work heading, is a fundamental idea. “It is my responsibility to produce real value, not merely the appearance thereof.” We now live in a transient world, a world […]
The Harming of Others
This entry is part 3 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics In its very long history, one of the ongoing debates in Chinese philosophy is the nature of man. It’s a simple question: is man by nature good or evil? Are evil acts learned through exposure to other evil acts, or does strict […]
Directed Passion and Hard Work
This entry is part 4 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics From our earliest times, the value of hard work has been ingrained into American society. We find it anchored in the beliefs of the early Protestant pilgrims, and have seen it reinvigorated over the years with the constant flow of immigrants drawn to […]
The Handshake
This entry is part 5 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics The handshake has a very long history in western civilization. However, even more than a greeting, the handshake has come to represent something even more important; it’s how we seal deals. Or, at least that’s how it used to be. In my lifetime, […]
Misdirection and Deception
This entry is part 6 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics The three of us were sitting outdoors at a cafe in a small European town. The evening was falling, and we were attempting to fight back the haze of jet lag with an evening meal (which, in retrospect, may not have been the […]
Partnerships of Trust
This entry is part 7 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics Perhaps one of the more potentially controversial statements in the Conscious Business Ethics Manifesto is this: I have no need to do business with the dishonest. So, it may need a little more explanation. Simply put, I want to do business with […]
Amorality of Money
This entry is part 8 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics Moving on with our ongoing series on Conscious Business Ethics, we now move into the Money section of the Manifesto. Money is an interesting thing. Originally developed to allow for time-shifting and product-shifting in a barter-based trading society, it’s now become so much […]
Money: A Means, Not an End
This entry is part 9 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics As was recently mentioned, money is amoral. It is only one of a number of tools we have when building a successful organization or enterprise—not the only one. The problem occurs when we start to confuse the tool (the means) with the goals […]
The Great Liege Lord: Greed
This entry is part 10 of 17 in the series Conscious Business Ethics In the Middle Ages, feudalistic monarchies controlled Europe, especially the lands held by England and France. In this oft romanticized time period, society was very hierarchical. The lands were divided up into massive estates controlled by a lord. Under him, vassals worked the […]
