I am reminded of a very interesting incident that I experienced in my father’s factory 18 years ago.
I was making ‘Argyle’ socks (like the one photographed here) for exports to a very reputed High Street retailer (today they are amongst the top 5).
This was my first order for these socks. After having made them in various color combinations, we began packing them in typical ‘bundles’ wrapped together using adhesive stickers that displayed the size and the price, etc.
After all the packing was done, in the final inspection, I just picked up one bundle and opened it like a consumer. As I ripped the adhesive sticker from the socks, I got a heart attack! The THREAD of the small ‘criss cross’ lines that make the Argyle pattern so famous began ripping out of the socks (since they had got attached to the sticker and were not strong enough to stay in the socks). Hence, every TOP SOCK in every bundle would be damaged via the sticker on top of it when opened by the buyer.
I had no clue what to do. It was 1 pm in the afternoon. The shipment was leaving my factory for the docks in 3 hours. Interestingly, the socks had PASSED inspection from Europe and India (I guess they had not opened the bundles OR that the sticker had become problematic over time) – so technically I was good to ship.
I decided to be truthful and called up my buyer. This was a very very critical decision I took at a very early stage in my career (I was 28 then) and that day continues to haunt me even today.
My buyer picked up my call. We had only landline phones in those days. He had a sample socks bundle on his desk and he could immediately understand the problem when he opened the bundle like any consumer would.
The conversation that followed is the lesson of this story:
The buyer first thanked me for being honest and truthful. Then he revealed that Argyle socks supplied by other manufacturers were also being returned to their stores for reasons that could not understand till now – since I had revealed the problem of the rogue adhesive. This was a global problem for them.
The buyers extended my timeline and paid for the extra top socks we had to produce!! They also gave us many more orders in the years to come and almost began skipping inspections for our consignments.
In all businesses and professions, very unexpected and difficult moments arise and I use this incident to really judge a Company by the lies it tells.
Image courtesy – christiansexclass.org
3 Questions that you need to ask yourself and about the Company that you work for and how it manages my ‘Lie Detection Test’:
1. In the Company, whose interest matters the most? Is it that of the employee, the boss, the Company or that of the consumer?
The Companies with utmost emphasis on consumers typically lie the least. And yes, they are the ones that flourish, the longest.
2. When a lie is found out, what happens?
Is a total cover up ordered? Is there a ‘selective’ disclosure procedure ordered? Are the facts presented in a convoluted, dressed-up style? Or does the Company completely owe up the mistake and make it transparent to the world?
I believe that the ‘treatment of lies’ decides the longevity of the organisation. The deeper lies are hidden or covered up, the lesser time the organisation will survive or be a meaningful place for accomplished people to work for.
3. Who takes blame?
Does the Boss (be it the CEO or Head of Department or Manager of the subordinate) step in and take the blame? Or are select manager/s lined up to be fired to show that the Company has “taken the right steps”? Or even worse, does the squealer get fired just for bringing up uncomfortable facts to life?
WHO takes responsibility is the penultimate test. The Boss IS responsible, no matter how disconnected he or she may be from the actions that have harmed the Company. How the Boss (read CEO/HOD/Manager) behaves really tells you where the Company is headed.
These are my personal opinions. If you can add to the test questions, please comment and I will surely add them to the body of this post if they pass my test 🙂
*****
Raghavendra
One important point is whether employees are encouraged to inform management about lies? Is there a redressal mechanism/eg. anonymous passing of information and protection to informant? OR is the culture “This is how it has been done here” prevalent in the org. Management may be honest but the way some organisations have evolved/grown there is a need to periodically relook at the whole process and if lies are becoming part of the process?