Don't Become An Enron! - Make Truth And Ethics Your Road To Success

Much has been written about the fall of Enron and more will continue to be written in the future. But what happened at Enron is interesting only because of the lessons we can learn from its downfall, says James Lucas in this insightful article. The details of the Enron situation are only the form that the disaster took, not the core. The core was a bad philosophy, the kind of thinking that produces dysfunctional organizations. Disaster is waiting, according to Lucas, when leaders create organizations that are truth-unfriendly, risk-unfriendly, mistake-unfriendly, and maverick-unfriendly. He goes on to point out eight warning signs of Enronism and then offers corresponding actions you can take to avoid such a disaster. Finally, says the author, "Avoiding growing up to be like Enron is to avoid the temptation to believe the lie. It is about creating and sustaining channels and forums for telling the truth." Lucas is a Kansas City-based consultant and the author of 13 books, including The Passionate Organization. This e-Doc is published by BrownHerron Publishing, with permission.