Ethics, character can’t be taught in classroom

I recently received an e-mail invitation from a prominent university to enroll in a workshop on “Entrepreneurial Ethics.” It was going to be taught by a bank president, an esteemed professor, the president of a large utility company and a litigation lawyer.

I quickly realized it was a mass solicitation, not targeted for me specifically, and I calmed down for a moment. Then I really began to get hot.

What the hell do they mean, “Entrepreneurial Ethics?” Why would ethics for an entrepreneur be any different from any other segment of society? And we were going to be blessed with this wisdom from a banker, a professor and a corporate utility executive, not to mention the ultimate affront of being taught ethics by a lawyer.

Educational institutions have become increasingly obsessed with the topic of ethics. One prominent institution of higher education lists more than 100 courses on every imaginable facet of ethics. It makes me wonder what kind of guilt they are exorcising (or hiding) to devote so much of their resources to this subject.

A course description from one university states: “This course provides an introduction to ethical theories as a framework through which to analyze and judge responses to social and moral controversies.” Still another proclaims: “Participants will discuss, evaluate, and solidify their own beliefs and values while learning with reference to others.” And yet another: “Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to develop a conceptual structure which assembles and incorporates all of the ethical theories presented into an operative framework of moral intelligence.”

Whoa! Would I like to spend a week on a secluded island with the guy who wrote this course description? Give me a root canal without Novocain instead!

I read hundreds of these course descriptions and I didn’t find a single one that stated: “Students will learn how to be ethical.” Why? Because ethics are derivative of character and character is ingrained in the human DNA.

Character can’t be taught in classroom

Can you image a course description: “At the end of this course, students will learn how to change their character.” Character and ethics cannot be taught and academicians know it. So, they spend countless hours sanctimoniously exploring (academic codespeak for “talking about”) it.

They get ecstatic facilitating (“leading”) endless discussions of hypothetical dilemmas such as: “Is there really any difference between accepting a piece of gum and a Rolex watch from a vendor?” It’s the modern-day equivalent of the medieval debate to determine how many angels can sit on the tip of pin. Give me the gum, keep the Rolex and let’s move on!

The degree of attention devoted to this subject makes me suspicious. I grew up never thinking about honesty or ethics because it was something that was ingrained in me by my Southwestern environment. I remember a business negotiation a few years ago in which a person repeatedly told me how honest he was. I remember thinking, “Why would I assume otherwise?” Eventually, I began to think the opposite. As Shakespeare said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

Therefore, the more I read and hear about ethics courses, the more I suspect the people involved have some internal issues they haven’t resolved concerning their own level of ethics. So, they seek self-therapy and resolution by self-righteously pretending to teach it to others.

It’s not hard to determine if a person is ethical. Just ask around! I know several individuals, the minute their names come up, everybody says, “Watch him, he’s a snake.” Isn’t it funny how that reputation gets around and doesn’t go away? These people eat at home a lot.

Character not personality

Sometimes people confuse ethics and character with personality. Yes, you can be a card-carrying jackass and ethical at the same time. There are ethical people who are absolute jerks that I wouldn’t want to spend one minute with, and some guys who are fun to hang around that I wouldn’t trust any further than I could throw them.

I want to admonish my lawyer friends (yes, I have a few) that legality and ethics are not synonymous, either. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

One of my personal heroes is John Connelly, the late governor of Texas. In his later years, he was in dire financial difficulty. He refused the advice of his lawyers to file for bankruptcy, and instead auctioned off everything he owned to pay his debts in full.

Gov. Connelly even attended the auction and I will never forget the resolute look on his face as he watched the material accumulations of his life being sold. But he kept his most important possession, his character. He didn’t use his lawyers for a conscience. John Connelly was an ethical man!

I just don’t understand all this interest in trying to teach ethics and character. You either have it, or you don’t. Ethical behavior is hard to describe, but my Okie brother Will Rogers came close: “So live that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.”

Brooks Mitchell is a professor of management at the University of Wyoming, and founder and owner of Snowfly Incentives Inc. Contact him at bmitchell@snowfly.com.

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