Don't Let Principles Get in the Way of Business

(MoneyWatch)  The other day, an associate clued me in on something I hadn't noticed. Apparently, I've been spending a little too much time on my ethical soapbox lately. At first, I didn't think anything of it. I mean, what good is a blog if you can't get a little "high-and-mighty" full of yourself from time to time?

Then I got to thinking that maybe there's more to this than meets the eye. I mean, am I really so squeaky clean that I get to act morally superior to anyone? It's not as if I've never done anything even remotely close to crossing that ethical borderline myself. Nobody's perfect, right?

Come to think of it, I don't know anyone, personally or publicly, that I'd feel comfortable hoisting up on some crazy high ethical pedestal, let alone myself. But that's exactly what I was doing when I recently wrote the following:

In 10 Things Good Managers Believe, number five was: "Compromising my ethical principles in the name of 'the ends justify the means', or for any other reason, is unacceptable."

And in 10 Lies Managers Tell Themselves, lie number eight was: "The ends justify the means. Comforting themselves when they've done something terrible to others."

See what I mean? I mean, which one of us can honestly say he's never found himself sort of looking the other way when there was something in it for him? Seriously, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, right? So now I'm beginning to wonder just how blurred that ethical borderline really is, and how long can we do business on that slippery slope without sliding into moral oblivion.

Well, I found the answer, but I don't think you're going to like it. You see, I recently wrote a story about the growing chasm between corporate America and much of the media, the federal government, and, well, pretty much everyone else. The post, which was actually about Toyota's sudden acceleration issues, contained the following excerpt:

America is the world's great bastion of capitalism, is it not? So what's the deal? Do people distrust corporations? Well, duh. I distrust corporations too. But I also distrust a lot of small business owners, some of my neighbors -- hell, I even distrust my dogs.

But that doesn't change the fact that I know which side this country's bread is buttered on. I mean, I know that democracy and capitalism are to thank for my standard of living. Does that mean I blindly trust everything the corporate world does? Absolutely not. But I don't blindly distrust everything it does either. The sensible approach seems to be to take action and behavior at face value, doesn't it?

There, I had it right there and I missed it. You see, I thought folks were down on corporate America because they'd lost their faith, their sense of trust in capitalism. But that's not it at all. What we're seeing here is the age-old battle between the haves and have-nots.

It's a tough economy and people are hurting. But the headlines are all about big bank bailouts, bonuses, and ginormous executive pay packages. People aren't pissed off over any sense of violated trust or principles; they're pissed off because they're not the ones getting the bailouts, the bonuses, and the pay packages.

The point is this. America is the way it is because of two concepts: democracy and capitalism. They're two sides of the same coin, but they're also very different. When it comes to democracy, principles and idealism come first. For all of us, freedom is an unassailable goal.

But when it comes to capitalism, let's face it; there are times when principles aren't exactly the first things on our minds. That's because business is the unassailable goal of capitalism. And, with all due respect to Ayn Rand, business isn't exactly an ideal. It's a reality. It is what it is, more or less. Granted, we're a nation of laws, but anything short of breaking one of them is, well, fair game. And if you think it shouldn't be that way, you're either naïve or full of it.

A long time ago I wrote "The ends never justify the means. Rather, the concept is nothing but an excuse for people to get what they want." Now, I see things a little differently. When it comes to business, there are exceptions. And while I reserve the right to change my opinion yet again before it's all over, that's what I believe today.