Raul submitted a great question and comment that I want to address:
Is deviance from truly ethical behavior appropriate or inappropriate, in the end? I kind of feel it is somewhat inappropriate.
This question was posed in context of my four part blog entry on ethics in selling. Lets look at deviance for a moment. Dictionary.com defines it as “One that differs from a norm, especially a person whose behavior and attitudes differ from accepted social standards.” In my opinion deviating from social norms, politically correct pressures, or cultural traditions (including corporate culture) is not necessarily a bad thing in business and in life. Alexander Graham Bell was seen as a deviant in many aspects, so was Martin Luther King.
For me Raul’s question made me think of the Dalai Lama’s comments on creating Karma. For good or bad karma to be created he states, there are three elements. #1) Intent #2) Action #3) Result. I think as we look at the result of our actions, in causing harm to others, or advancing at the loss of others with harmful or un-ethical behavior and succeeding in doing so then this behavior is absolutely inappropriate. So in short, next time one feels like labeling someone a deviant the questions we must ask are “What was their intent?”…”Did they act upon this intent?” and “Did their actions cause harm or suffering to others?”
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