Finally, there is a fourth question to ask when seeking to change a pattern of behavior. How do I make the change given the “web” (system) in which my cheating (like most cheating) is snared. Can I really stop lying in a setting that encourages “skillful” lying? Behavioral psychologists often propose that we must “re-program the environment” if sustained change of behavior is to take place. We might simply avoid settings in which we are inclined to cheat—but as we have noted this is often difficult to do. The cheating occurs when we are engaged in job-related travel. Our spouse asks how the meeting went and waits expectantly to hear that it went well –rather than hearing what I did “after hours” that was “sinful”. Our company must continue to compete against a rival who always “lies” or operates in a country with a much different code of ethics.
It’s not always us!
We also might try to change the environment in which we operate. This usually requires the assistance of other people in our life. For instances, we meet with our spouse and find a way to avoid conflict or vow to bring up and resolve conflicts at least 24 hours before we head off on the road. We might also invite our children to tell us when they are considering having unprotected sex with someone they have been dating.
At this point, as parents, we don’t punish our children or somehow ban them from meeting with this other person; rather, we ensure that they know about and have access to safe sex practices. We realize that we can’t prevent the act, but we can help to change the “environment” (sexual protection) in which the potential act might be taking place. Our child needs no longer to lie—they can now accept our assistance in gaining a bit more control over their future life (with regard to the potential of an unwanted pregnancy or sexually-transmitted disease).
In an organization setting, we might try to change the environment by becoming collectively clear about and finding ways to reinforce our company-wide code of ethics. Instead, we could identify situations which have called for cheating and convene meetings (such as focus groups) where alternative responses are identified and subsequently taught to members of the organization. We might also meet with our competitors to establish a “fair” ground in which to compete (without violating laws regarding collusion). In a political setting (where lying is all too frequent) there might be an agreement among the opponents to run a “clean” campaign with minimal distortion of the truth. This perhaps a “pipedream” though we do know that this type of campaign is viewed favorably by many citizens and both the winner and loser of the campaign is often viewed more favorably.
Cheating can become embedded into an organization’s culture – behavior that produced success in the past (especially when manifest by founders and top leaders) becomes entrenched as the “way to do things”. Subsequently, systems, processes and procedures incorporate the implied behaviors. For example, WorldCom accounting processes entrenched the CEO’s (Bernie Ebbers) business strategy.
In other cases, overly ambitious sales targets set by senior leaders and incentivized by large bonuses, can cause salespeople to use fraudulent tactics to meet these targets or cause them to submit false sales reports. An example of this is that of Wells Fargo Bank where intense pressure from sales management caused sales employees to open bogus accounts in the names of customers without their knowledge. This ultimately resulted in a 3 billion dollar fine. These mechanisms then become entrenched. To overcome these entrenched problems, organizational leaders should not only look for embedded beliefs and behaviors, but also systems, processes and procedures that embed and encourage cheating and fabrication of a false reality.
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