This
latest “Deep Thort” was prompted by a recent article in the Telegraph by technology
intelligence reporter Hannah Boland in which she interviews Sachin Kansal
global head of safety at Uber, the ride hailing service. She describes how, under former boss Travis
Kalanick, Uber “battled sexual harassment complaints, data breaches and
accusations that it has developed technology to evade regulators”… For a
company that asks customers to trust strangers with their lives, it hasn’t had
the best reputation over the last couple of years, hit by a steady stream of
scandals that have served to tarnish its brand”.
Kalanick
stepped down in 2017 to be replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi who set about trying
to reposition Uber as a safer company, one that is more responsible and
trustworthy. He introduced a new company
slogan: “Do the right thing. Period”. However, as Hannah Boland points out “What
the right thing is though is inevitably becoming much more complicated”. So here are some “Deep Thorts” on “the right
thing”.
We
included a chapter on “doing the right thing” in our book “The Z to A of Success – the Art of Thinking Backwards”. Here are some extracts starting with the three
key challenges involved when you choose the “do the right thing” approach to
achieving success.
First
“doing the right thing” will probably take you longer and may well involve you
in more cost, effort and even sacrifice.
Or at least it may feel that way.
One characteristic of the more ruthless approach to achieving success is
that often involves practices that appear to offer a “short cut” of one sort or
the other. A short cut is different from
a “better way” because it is purely about saving time, cost and effort,
carelessly of consequences and avoiding sacrifice for the individual involved,
but not for other people.
The
second dimension to “doing the right thing” will require you to do this well with
the other people you deal with, in every respect. There are no sustainable short cuts to this.
The
third aspect of “doing the right thing” is that you have got to do it really
well. In fact you have got to do
everything involved really well. "Doing the
right thing” badly may make you feel better and others may be hoodwinked by
your high moral stance, but it won’t bring you success.
How
to know if you are doing the right thing.
Just ask these three ZtoA Right Thing questions.
Z. Is this really a better way or is it
just a short cut for my benefit?
2. Will this deliver win/win outcomes for
all the people involved?
A. Am I prepared to give first and receive
later to achieve those win/win outcomes?
If
it really is a better way, that will deliver win/win outcomes to all involved
and you are prepared to give first and receive later then almost certainly you
will “do the right thing”.
Because
none of us is perfect “Doing the right thing” for the individual is quite a challenge
so not surprisingly it is an even bigger challenge to get a whole organisation
to do it, consistently and over the long term.
It really helps if you can use a clear focus that connects directly to
the set of values that are the foundation for how you will “do the right thing”. In the case of Uber they are using “safety”
as this focus. I have seen this work
really well for other organisations where safety is highly relevant to their success, so maybe it will for Uber.
But there still remains one further question. Can you really become successful through “doing the right thing”? The answer is “yes”. In fact “doing the right thing” is more likely to help individuals and organisations become successful than to hinder them. How can we justify this view when so much opinion appears to believe the opposite? Well, as opposed to opinion, there is a lot of research and many examples that demonstrate that “doing the right thing” pays off and pays off handsomely. If you would like to know more about this then let me know and I will share the information with you.
But there still remains one further question. Can you really become successful through “doing the right thing”? The answer is “yes”. In fact “doing the right thing” is more likely to help individuals and organisations become successful than to hinder them. How can we justify this view when so much opinion appears to believe the opposite? Well, as opposed to opinion, there is a lot of research and many examples that demonstrate that “doing the right thing” pays off and pays off handsomely. If you would like to know more about this then let me know and I will share the information with you.
