The Golden Rule
John Maxwell, author of There Is No Such Thing as Business Ethics, holds that only one rule is necessary in governing ethical decision making: the Golden Rule.
Treating competitors, the community, employees, and fellow humans with the same courtesies we would like shown to us works.
The Golden Rule is a guideline of life in every culture I know. Many of us are familiar with the "do unto others" admonition of the New Testament. It may surprise you to know how similarly the world's religions view this concept.
Confucianism states: "Do not do to others what you would not like yourself." Zoroastrians are advised that "if you don't wish to be mistreated by others, do not mistreat anyone yourself." Muslims are taught no one is a true believer "until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." Hinduism warns never to behave "towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself." The Torah says: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it."
How would I like to be treated in this situation? That's all you need to ask yourself in most instances.
November 20, 2010
Stories
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Employee Handbook
Nordstrom's policy manual consists of only one card. The front of the card reads:
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
Welcome to Nordstrom
WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH OUR COMPANY.
Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service.
Set both your personal and professional goals high.
We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.
So our employee handbook is very simple.
We have only one rule…
The other side of the card reads:
ONE RULE
Use good judgement in all situations.
Please free to ask your Department Manager, Store Manager,
or Human Resource office any question at any time.
October 20, 2010
Stories
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Economics of Trusts
"Jim", a vendor in New York City, set up shop and sold donuts and coffee to passerby as they went in and out of their office buildings. During the breakfast and lunch hours, Jim always had a long lines of customers waiting. He noticed that wait time discouraged many customers who left and went elsewhere. He also noticed that as he was a one-man show, the biggest bottleneck preventing him from selling more donuts and coffee was the disproportionate amount of time it took to make change for his customers.
Finally, Jim simply put a small basket on the side of his stand filled with dollar bills and coins, trusting his customers to make their own change. Now you might think customers would accidentally count wrong or intentionally take extra quarters from the basket, but what Jim found was the opposite: Most customer responded by being completely honest, often leaving him larger-than-normal tips. Also he was able to move customers through at twice the pace because he didn't have to make change. In addition, he found that his customers liked was able to double his revenues without adding any new cost.
When trust is low, speed goes down and cost goes up. When trust is hight, speed goes up and cost goes down.
September 23, 2010
Stories
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The Difference Between a VC and a Banker
A banker will give you money when you don't need money… a VC will give you money when all you need is MONEY!
November 22, 2009
Titbits
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Keep It Simple
Studies shows that more information doesn't necessarily leads to a better decision. It, however, leads to overconfidence.
Even worse, the more time and effort you put into researching, analyzing, and deciding to do something, the more likely you will end up doing it, even if it is a bad idea at the first place!
November 22, 2009
Titbits
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