Reading through the paper this morning it struck me that today more than ever we seem to have trouble doing the right thing – the right thing for our global community, our organizations, and ourselves.  Is it because the choices have become more complex or because our decisions have become more visible?  In sorting through the pros and cons of some hot issues from the headlines, you tell me – what’s the right thing to do?

The right thing for our Global Community:  Olympic sponsorship

I completely get that Steven Spielberg opted out of participating in the production of the opening ceremonies for this year’s Olympics.  I imagine him sitting in a room listening to people toss around their ideas for the best way to highlight and celebrate Chinese culture and thinking to himself:  “Wait a minute.  How can I participate in celebrating the culture of a country whose politics diametrically oppose my foundational beliefs?  What was I thinking?  I am so out of here!”   

I also get that protestors are using the Olympic torch relay to bring attention to human rights issues in China.  These groups have been trying to get our attention for a long time; these aren’t new issues.  So good for them for optimizing a captive audience and making their point – peacefully.

What I don’t get is the question around whether or not Olympic sponsors should pull their support or risk permanent damage to their brands.  In this morning’s USA Today an article on Olympic sponsorship gave sponsors five different “professional” opinions as to the right decision.

How did supporting the Olympics suddenly become synonymous with supporting the host country?  The Olympics have always represented an opportunity for harmonic international competition and should be about the athletes and excellence.  Instead of pulling their support, I would suggest sponsors use this opportunity to entrench their Corporate Social Responsibility values and use their time and dollars to raise awareness of human rights and what can be accomplished by working together – as evidenced historically by the Olympic Games.

And if consumers really want to make a statement, wouldn’t they be better off boycotting Chinese products as opposed to US Olympic sponsors?

What is the right thing for these companies to do?  What is the right thing for consumers to do?  I don’t know…you tell me.

The right thing for Organizations:  CEO Pay

The headline for this blurb on Exxon CEO’s compensation for 2007 should have come with a warning:  Reading this on the same day you fill up your gas tank could cause high blood pressure and uncontrollable cursing.

Now my degree is from a college of Arts and Sciences, not business, so pardon my ignorance, but can someone please explain to me how Exxon can bring in “the largest profit ever for a U.S company” while our gas prices continue to steadily creep towards the $4 a gallon mark?  Can someone please explain to me how it is ok for an oil company CEO to receive $21.7 million in income while a good chunk of the economy is reeling from the impacts of the increased price of mobility, including 3 airlines closing down and another filing bankruptcy?  How does this guy sleep at night knowing that these higher costs are being passed on to the end consumer in the form of baggage handling fees, fuel surcharges, and 100 other imaginative ways businesses have found to recoup money needed to just stay afloat.

And where is Gerald Grinsteinwhen you need him?

I would have hoped that more CEOs would have gotten the message.  But what do you think?  Should CEOs sacrifice their lucrative pay packages just because the rest of us are suffering?  What is the right thing?  I don’t know…you tell me.

The right thing for an Individual:  Green living

A little closer to home, there are always those opportunities we all have to make a small dent in a big problem.  I try to make a difference in small ways – I ride my bicycle to the store, I use my canvas grocery bags, I’ve replace a multitude of bulbs in my house with fluorescents and I use “certified green” cleaning products on the rare occasion that I actually clean my house.  I’m not bragging; I am sure those are the easy and simple things we all do. 

Two summers ago, however, I noticed that our AC system wasn’t working very well – which in Arizona is not something you want to mess around with.  What a great opportunity to do something more significant!  I did some research and found this amazing company Solcool that builds HVAC systems to run on a single solar panel.  The thought of using the sun to cool my house thrilled me, so I tried to buy one.  “Not possible.” I was told.  Turns out there was such a demand the company couldn’t keep up production.  “Wait another year.” I was told.  So I dialed my thermostat to 87 degrees last Summer and waited.  November rolled around and I again tried to purchase one.  This time I was told by the supplier that I could only get it as part of a package deal that included 20 solar panels and putting my house on the grid.  Fine, I said.  Sign me up.  I never heard anything back. 

Next week the temperatures in Phoenix are expected to be in the low 90s.  The prospect of spending another Summer in an 87 degree house was too much for me and I caved.  I bought 2 of the highest efficiency HVAC systems on the market and had them installed this week.

I justified it to myself in a number of creative ways.  What it boils down to though is that sometimes you want to do the right thing, but it is just too difficult.  So the question is what is your breaking point?  At what point does it become too much work to do the right thing?

Should I have tried harder?  I don’t know… you tell me.

Choices and Consequences

Cleaning out boxes in my garage this past weekend I had a chance to root through some of my history.  It’s interesting to review evidence of the choices you made in your life that landed you where you are today.  Even though I love where I am today, I can promise you that I didn’t always do the right thing.  I claim it’s what makes me interesting, tolerant, and flexible, but I am sure my parents would have a different spin.

You see, that’s the trouble with doing the right thing – there is no formula for consciousness where you can simply plug in data and have it spit out the correct answer. 

At some point we all are faced with making a decision that requires us to balance our intellect, our pocketbooks, and our hearts.   Come to think of it though, if more of us actually took that balanced approach I imagine that more of us would have no choice but to do the right thing – whatever that right thing turns out to be for our particular unique situation at a given moment in time.

I guess my question is this:  Have our lives really progressed to point where it is really that hard to do the right thing?  Is it that we don't have the time, the energy, the desire?  Or is it the belief that one person doing the right thing can't make a difference?  I don’t know… you tell me.