Friday, November 14, 2008

Integrity & Ethics

In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities : integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you. - Warren Buffet

Integrity or the lack of it is making this world a lousy place to live in! Then there is also the lack of ethics. Think melamine, collapsed schools etc.

According to Concise Oxford Dictionary:
1)Integrity - the quality of having strong moral principles.
2)Ethics - the moral principles governing or influencing conduct.

Example of someone with low integrity but good ethics could be a politician who does not possess innate moral values but outwardly campaigns against corruption and other vices as an obligatory gesture to remain popular. (Sounded very familiar!)

On the other hand, someone of high integrity but poor ethics might be a cult member who passionately believes in his entity ideology to the extent that he would kill for their so-called justified cause. (Equally familiar!)

Another food for thought.

What is legal does not necessarily mean ethical.
Example - as an employer, you always give all your employees only what is minimally required under Labour law.

Ethical does not necessarily mean legal. Example : You rush a dying a person to the nearest hospital but exceed the speed limit.

Any thoughts on the above?

*adapted from the latest issue of MIM magazine.

ps will be a away for a week, so no update till 25 Nov! Ciao!

2 comments:

samo said...

wah.. lu punya filosofy dashyat lah..

Unknown said...

Love the Buffet quote. Some of the corporate disasters such as Enron and Worldcom are due to application of intelligence in a highly energetic manner but without inegrity and ethics!

Rgds