I found a recent blog post that reads like it was written by someone who’s taken Landmark Education classes, though I have no proof of this. It’s on the subject of integrity, and includes the phrase “without integrity nothing works”, which you will hear if you take Landmark courses.
I think it’s worth taking a moment to note that many people seem to misunderstand what is meant by integrity when it is mentioned in a Landmark programme. It’s no talking about the definition of integrity that’s about being a good person or being moral. Instead it focuses on the definition of integrity that is like having the strucutral integrity of a building-If it’s not build with a proper foundation it won’t “work”; the building will eventually fall down. Similarly, if two people agree to meet somewhere at a given time; if one person doesn’t show up, it’s not about the morality of it, it’s about that what was to be accomplished in that meeting won’t be accomplished – it will lead to unworkability. I’ll give some of this blog post from the Integrity Dividend blog that says it better than I can.
Without Integrity Nothing Works – Tony Simon
Webster’s defines integrity as 1: incorruptibility 2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness 3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness.
Webster’s defines work as: 1: activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something: a sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective.
For me, having integrity is doing something as it is designed to be done and as it is expected by others to be done. Let’s say you are going to do something and you are going to do it the way you want but not the way it is expected to be done. For it to have integrity, you would simply let others know how you are doing it. It may have consequences and an impact, but for me, it would have integrity.
The concept of “working” points to whether or not something is functioning as it is supposed to. Working means that whatever you are referring to is able to fulfill its mission. There is a neutral aspect in this. We are not necessarily talking about high performance or the optimal solutions. However, if something does not work you surely will not get to high performance.
I am not a financial expert; however, as a business consultant with a MBA, I am also not a complete dunderhead in this area. Regarding the mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial products that were constructed from them, there appears to be a lack of integrity with mortgages being sold to and taken by people who could not pay them back. In that, where is the integrity? In addition, the financial products that were subsequently constructed were not fully understood or known, yet they were counted on like they were known and understood. Again, in this where is the integrity? One could say our current economic status is due to a lack of integrity.
It is important to distinguish integrity from morality. We are not talking about good vs. bad or right vs. wrong. Rather, we are asking about whether something is whole and complete and can stand up independently. Does the thing hold together? In reality is what you see, is what you really have.
So as business owners, what can we do and where can we stand as we confront these challenging business times? Personally, my integrity and the integrity of my business gives me a context to live by. I honor my word and do not allow circumstances to get in the way of “how” I do business. Instead, my values and my integrity guide my actions.
It’s really worth reading the whole post – I recommend it highly.
