When does an organization become amoral?

When reading a book, some statements just jump right out.

That’s what happened when I read Me, Myself, & Bob: A True Story about Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables, by Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales.  In chapter 15, Vischer references big media companies Viacom, Time Warner, and Disney and states “The problem with these giant, publicly traded media goliaths isn’t that they are immoral, but rather that they are profoundly amoral. They are valueless. They are simply too big to focus on any specific value system or moral code, and instead must be all things to all people.” Wow. That’s quite a statement.

Interestingly, the title of this chapter is ‘Built to Last’ where Vischer makes solid reference to the classic business book of that name, written by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. In the book Built to Last, the authors outline the results of a six year research project that highlights what makes visionary companies – like General Electric, 3M, Sony, Ford, Disney, and others – consistently successful, over the long haul.  In contrast, major competitors were also identified who were moderately successful but failed to sustain their market leadership.

Not surprisingly, truly visionary companies succeed because their founders built their own personal values into the very culture of their organization, from the executives to the newest employee sitting at the front desk.

Vischer goes on to highlight the research findings that truly visionary companies could be described as “cultlike.”  However, the focus of this behavior was not around a specific personality. Rather the unifying factor was around an ideology – rallying people around a core set of values. Imagine a group of people all focused on delivering products and services that support a few select differentiating values…..  It just might explain why coffee lovers flock to Starbucks, or those obsessed with customer service hang out at Nordstrom, or fanatics of innovative technology will wait in line for hours to buy the latest Apple product.

So what causes a good organization to become amoral?

Vischer makes the argument: it’s all about money. He highlights the media companies that make products for preschoolers that happen to promote good values (e.g. Blue’s Clues or Mickey Mouse). Yet the same companies also make products for those kids when they are 10 years older that promote negative values (e.g. MTV or Desperate Housewives). If it’s profitable, they will sell it.

This environment of mixed-values is evident in larger, publicly-traded companies whose founders have been replaced with next generation leaders – those held accountable to produce specific profit expectations for its shareholders. Unfortunately, when faced with the choice between doing what is morally right and doing what is profitable, most leaders tend to choose profit.

As Vischer states, it’s not that these leaders are immoral. They choose to allow the formation of an amoral culture. And once this precedence is set, it’s hard to turn back.

As water runs down hill, similar amoral choices will begin appearing with other leaders and employees throughout an organization, and even its suppliers. The only question is how long does it take before the amoral behavior becomes immoral and crosses the line to illegal, as it did with Enron, Worldcom, and Global Crossing?

Personally, I’m grateful to Phil Vischer and his observations about values. He is one of a few sources that inspired me to write about Values-Based Marketing – the opportunity to help organizations move away from the cliff of amorality and focus on values that build competitive differentiation, sustainable profits, and ultimately a brand that lasts.