“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” ~Buddha
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From a Sustainability viewpoint, we are now in a New Age of Renaissance, that is global in breadth, and it will mold our thinking for the future in terms of ideas – their context, application and innovation of Sustainable Developed solutions. All of these new and brilliant ideas rely not only on intellect, science and engineering, but ethical foundations that will serve the very foundation for the Humanity for the 21st Century collaboration, not theft.
I recently read an article shared by a LinkedIn “influencer” entitled; “Three Reasons to Steal, Not Copy. Here’s How and Why”. It was an ill advised article that encouraged behavior that could very well lead to illegal practices and possible legal suits. Having a couple of decades of global experience and directly involved in corporate espionage investigation that was eventually turned over to the FBI, I have witnessed unethical business practices in action. They ruin the brand image of the corporation, as well as, those leaders who permitted or over looked avenues for cheating and stealing. It also jeopardizes intellectual capital that is often “leveraged” in Asia.
Stealing ideas and claiming originality is an old corruption practice dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Patents and copyrights are common practices of protecting assets. Anyone who encourages those standards to be ignored is neither a positive influence nor sets a good leadership example for others to follow. I believe many others think the way I do. It’s hard to be original. Creativity and brainstorming new ideas is an innovative form of thinking. It does not settle for a status quo. It seeks improvement and excellence. It promotes honesty and stretching current thinking with melding different thinking with different disciplines, cultures and technology.
Take the organizations Transparency International. For decades it has been ranking countries based on lack of transparency, corruption, stealing ideas, copyright infringement, poor business practices and lack of ethical standards and laws. For those countries who practice unethical and corrupt practices, the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2013 includes these countries often written about in current events:
- Russia: 127 / 177
- Kazakhstan: 140 / 177
- Ukraine: 144 / 177
- Libya: 172 / 177
- Sudan: 174 / 177
- Afghanistan: 175 / 177
Go to Transparency International for more information. Ratings are carefully weighted in the rankings. This is not a stereotype of populations, but it does reflect business practices in those countries and where there may be no recognition of laws, ethics or government regulations that would align to practices elsewhere in the Western world. It is a warning system to those who wish to explore and compare business in those parts of the world.
Personally, I have known citizens from those countries, some are dear friends, that I respect and know are would not steal an idea for the sake of personal gain. They have integrity and probably would have similar disdain for “Reasons to Steal”. Nor, do I believe, would they encourage others to behave as the article encouraged, illegally at best.
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Owners, Executive and other Leaders are investigating a global world concerned about Sustainability, that type of understanding can be difficult to obtain. In early December 2013, I published my second book entitled “Building a Bridge to Benefits”. If you are interested in reading about the book or want to purchase copies today, here is the link to CreateSpace, an Amazon company, go to: https://www.createspace.com/4532590
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