I've been reading a book by Mary Schiavo, who was former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation. I can't remember the entire title but I think it's called "Flying Safer, Flying Smarter" or something like that. It's about the airline industry and the FAA. What's interesting is that it was written BEFORE 9/11 and the things she says about the state of airport security back in the 1990's in light of what we know now--well, I don't think Ms. Schiavo was terribly surprised by what happened that day.
What got my attention were the other problems she highlighted in the airline industry and the FAA. I can tell you that all she has to do is to change some of the names, for example, the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA, because the issues she discussed are issues that are found in any large industry and/or government agency. They're universal issues.
Now I have attended seminars and read materials on business ethics and I have to say in my experience that most of the situations discussed in these classes and in these materials are not ones that you are likely to encounter. They're not the big black-and-white, illegal or legal issues that get all the attention. I've never been asked (nor am I likely to) to falsify data or to do anything else that is against the law.
The three problems that Ms. Schiavo pointed out in her book that are universal are these: inadequate training, insufficient staff and unrealistic deadlines. You may never be put in a situation where you have to falsify a report but I guarantee that you will be put in a situation sooner or later where you have to do a task that you don't feel adequately trained for and which has to be done yesterday. You may be called upon to handle tasks by yourself that really ought to be done by two or three people. This is where shortcuts happen and quality suffers. Ms. Schiavo talks about mechanics and FAA inspectors who were rushed through training. Pilots that are pressured to fly in bad weather or else they won't get paid. Air traffic controllers who are overloaded. Well, I don't work in aviation but I can certainly relate. Everyone is under the gun.
So what do you do? When do you speak up and when do you let things go by? Especially when it is something "minor" that the bosses really don't want to hear about. I tend to be a perfectionist so I tend to stress out easily. It's very hard for me to "lower" my standards but I have found that I have had to somewhat (I hope my boss isn't reading this!) in order to keep my sanity. The documents I work with are so large that it is in many cases impossible to catch everything. You do what you can.
What got my attention were the other problems she highlighted in the airline industry and the FAA. I can tell you that all she has to do is to change some of the names, for example, the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA, because the issues she discussed are issues that are found in any large industry and/or government agency. They're universal issues.
Now I have attended seminars and read materials on business ethics and I have to say in my experience that most of the situations discussed in these classes and in these materials are not ones that you are likely to encounter. They're not the big black-and-white, illegal or legal issues that get all the attention. I've never been asked (nor am I likely to) to falsify data or to do anything else that is against the law.
The three problems that Ms. Schiavo pointed out in her book that are universal are these: inadequate training, insufficient staff and unrealistic deadlines. You may never be put in a situation where you have to falsify a report but I guarantee that you will be put in a situation sooner or later where you have to do a task that you don't feel adequately trained for and which has to be done yesterday. You may be called upon to handle tasks by yourself that really ought to be done by two or three people. This is where shortcuts happen and quality suffers. Ms. Schiavo talks about mechanics and FAA inspectors who were rushed through training. Pilots that are pressured to fly in bad weather or else they won't get paid. Air traffic controllers who are overloaded. Well, I don't work in aviation but I can certainly relate. Everyone is under the gun.
So what do you do? When do you speak up and when do you let things go by? Especially when it is something "minor" that the bosses really don't want to hear about. I tend to be a perfectionist so I tend to stress out easily. It's very hard for me to "lower" my standards but I have found that I have had to somewhat (I hope my boss isn't reading this!) in order to keep my sanity. The documents I work with are so large that it is in many cases impossible to catch everything. You do what you can.
