Environment of mistrust
I am reading a book about the Emerson Corporation. The copy is at home. I am at work eating a p&j sandwich and thinking. I will post later about the title and author. (Here’s Later: Performance Without Compromise, by Charles Knight and Davis Dyer). In Chapter One there is a few paragraphs about “integrity.” The passage says, and I am paraphrasing from memory, that operational excellence is achieved by first apply “integrity” to EVERY aspect of their operations. By doing so, the book says, you create a business environment of trust. Trust with your peers, your employees, your vendors, your customers, and your investors. This environment is necessary not only because it is ethically the right way to do things but also that this environment of trust saves time and creates more efficiency because the issue never has to be an issue.
My previous employer actually used words that are peppered throughout the Emerson book in it’s mission statement. This mission statement is no longer on their website so maybe they have decided it is not representative of their position in the market. They use the words in context as “we are striving for operational excellence through continuous improvement” instead. As I was reading the book and reflecting on my experience with this company, I realized that the CEO at this previous employer must have read parts of the book also. I recall many of the concepts being mentioned and even attempts at applications of many of the concepts in this particular book at his company. I believe that he may have not put enough emphasis on the “integrity” part. Had that part been applied, I really believe his other approaches would have been successful. He is not a dummie and it might have all worked. Instead he found himself in embroiled in a lawsuit questioning his and other “key” executives’ “integrity.” The suit was settled but the environment of trust is still missing, rumor has it.
An environment of trust means that employees, vendors, customers, investors, and management is all on the same page with the same goals. Everyone involved can see that the met goals benefits them personally in some way. I think the author is right, wouldn’t that save a lot of time and create more efficiency and therefore reduce costs, increase quality, and blossom in good PR as a by-product of that environment? In my previous work place, there was suspicion and mistrust between management and employees, employees and employees, and investors and management. Many ideas come to mind as to the reasons this was true, but the biggest offender was the lack of “integrity” as a part of daily decisions. Decisions were based on concepts and not people.
I am not bitter about having to leave that position. I left because an environment of mistrust was not going to contribute to my growth and was actually affecting me in negative ways. I have faith that it all happened for the right reasons. The lessons I learned from that job are referenced many times a week when I make decisions about my own business. For that I am thankful. Although I believe I have always operated my business with integrity, it has now become the first word I will use in my mission statement. Now onto thinking about the rest of the words to include.
