The
quest for truth is worthwhile and can be a lifelong pursuit.
Socrates first pursued truth as it relates to the physical world and
then delved into morality and moral truths. The Romans were great
seekers of truth related to science and how it could help them
construct building, roads, and aqueducts. They became great
engineers.
The
great religious reformers of the middle ages sought for truth which
eventually led to the restoration of the gospel. President Hinkley
wrote a book called Truth
Restored.
Today
the quest for truth is greater than it ever has been, and humans have
resources in pursuit of truth that could not have been imagined in
prior generations.
In
the world of business, there are those seeking truth. Investors are
constantly trying to determine the value of a company. Banks are
trying to determine the credit worthiness of a potential creditor.
When people are being interviewed, the organization doing the hiring
is trying to determine if the person will do the job.
But
within a corporation, it is amazing how some people never want to
hear the truth about problems or issues.
A
few examples from my work experience will provide enlightenment
(truth) and hopefully amusement.
I
worked for a company that really, really liked the quality program
six sigma. This is a common program that many companies have
adopted. The company I worked for initially used six sigma to help
improve the quality of the products they manufactured, with great
success. Then the company president came up with the great idea that
every department all over the world would implement six sigma. This
includes areas like human resources, accounting, and administration.
There
were rules about how to implement the program, and you’d better
do it right. The department I was in had about 20 people, and
implementing and reporting six sigma statistics became part of my
job. Over time it became a large part of my job. I started looking
around and saw people all over my division who did nothing else but
six sigma work.
I
naively went to my boss and had the following conversation.
Me:
If we did nothing else but stop using six sigma in departments where
it does no good, we could save a lot of money. Boss:
I know, but we can’t do that. Me:
Why? It would be so easy! Boss:
If we stopped the program, corporate senior management would fire us. Me:
Can’t we just make the suggestion? Boss:
No, they would fire us for that as well.
Well,
all right then. It may not be a surprise that while that company
continues to make good products, they have a problem competing on
price. Costs are too high.
At
another company, a guy I worked with and I noticed that there were a
couple of employees in another finance area that did not seem to do
much work. So being the geeks we were, we created a chart on the
back of the door of my office. The chart had two columns. One side
was for one employee that never seemed to get to work on time. If
the employee got to work by LUNCH we would mark yes, if not then we
would mark no.
On
the other side of the chart were yes and no columns for someone that
was at work but ALWAYS seemed to be on the internet. If we happened
to be walking by and the employee was on the internet we would mark
yes; if she was doing something else (it did not even have to be
work), we would mark no.
This
provided us some amusement for a few months as the results reflected
what we had suspected. The first employee got to work before lunch
only about 20% of the time. The internet junkie was doing something
besides being on the internet only about 10% of the time.
As
fate would have it, I ended up accepting a position in that other
department. One of my employees was a good, efficient worker. She
came to work on time and had a lot to do while she was there. It is
not surprising that she disliked working so hard while there were
others that did so little.
I
thought this was my chance. I would go to my boss, who was also over
the two non-functioning employees, and voice the concerns of my
employee. This gave me the opportunity to point out they were not
working and maybe some reallocation of work was in order.
My
boss was abrupt and short and told me she would look into the
situation. Nothing happened except it was obvious that I was in
trouble with my boss. She viewed it as though I was saying she was
not doing her job (she wasn’t), and it took about a year for
her to improve her attitude towards me.
I
have many examples of this behavior. All of the examples just as
ridiculous as the ones I related.
This
lack of wanting to know the truth in business exists because there is
something people do not want to do — admit a mistake.
When
there is too much of this truth denial in a company at too high a
management level, the viability of the company actually is becomes
questionable. The profitability of the company lags or the company
starts losing money. Finally, changes are made at the top of a
company, the truth, as always, comes out about the issues facing the
company, and then appropriate changes are made and hopefully the
company can recover.
This
cycle is a constant in the world of business.
For
many employees it is easy to see the folly of management for
companies where we work. Yet in our own lives, do we ever ignore the
truth to keep from admitting to ourselves that we have made a
mistake?
Truth
does in fact always prevail. It is better that we are honest with
ourselves and strive to improve. This is repentance and what has
been asked of us.
Adam Smith is obviously not the actual name of the author of this column. The real author has
worked for two Fortune 500 companies, one privately held company, and a public accounting
firm. His undergraduate degree was in accounting, and he earned an MBA for his graduate
degree. He also has completed coursework for a PhD. in finance. He continues to be employed
by one of the Fortune 500 companies.
The author grew up in the Washington D.C. area but also lived for several years in Arizona. He
currently resides with his family on the East Coast.
The author has held various callings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.