“If I want to deprive you of your watch, I shall certainly have to fight for it; if I want to buy your watch, I shall have to pay for it; and if I want a gift, I shall have to plead for it; and, according to the means I employ, the watch is stolen property, my own property, or a donation. Thus, we see three different results from three different means. Will you still say that the means do not matter?”
- Mahatma Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance
Why do people often take to take an unethical path? Let us look at this question not from a moral standpoint, but rather just a query. The simple answer is they do so for escalating and elevating into whatever they want to quickly. The purpose of being unethical is rooted in achieving results, it’s focus lay on reaching somewhere – either by hook or by crook, it’s basically about finding a shortcut. For many, first this starts as a way to raise themselves from the (assumed) “pit” they are into. Soon, it gives a kick, a thrill. There must be an adrenaline rush or something – like in gambling, and then soon one get habituated to the unethical path. The addiction comes from achievement of results.
On contrary, ethics is a journey. It demands commitment. It’s a slow process, but there is calmness, one can involve and find joy in the journey of ethics. The focus of ethics is in the means in which the business is conducted. It does not mean that one need not achieve the results, but it means that while striving towards the result, the focus is on the journey, the means.
The intent of this comparison is to not establish something as right or wrong, but these are the common traits and outcomes for the actions taken in respective direction. And, there is always a choice – to choose between the two.
Now can I choose a path by saying that I’m new in business, and let me do the business for some time by the means from the left side column, grow and then shift to become ethical? Deep inside, perhaps, we all know the answer to that. Pause, slow down, take a deep breath, and find it for yourself…
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