Lessons from Enron, part 3

Here's another story from Enron, this one almost too incredible to believe:

Enron executives were touting Enron Energy Services (EES), then still relatively new, to Wall Street analysts. Leading the analysts through a tour of Enron's headquarters, the company pulled 75 EES workers -- including sales reps and secretaries -- from their actual jobs and had them pose in the fake trading center on the building's sixth floor. The goal was to show the analysts that EES was a real and busy business. The company moved phones, computers (some not working), and family pictures to the desks of the fake trading floor. Lay and Skilling reportedly helped orchestrate the ruse, and even led a rehearsal the day before the analysts tour. When Lay and Skilling led the analysts through the area, the EES team "at work" gave the impression of a busy, dynamic operation. It was one more example of Enron's emphasis on appearances and spin. "Enron: The Rise and Fall" by Loren Fox, page 238

What an audacious example of deceit. Of course, if your faith is going to mean anything to you at work, you need to be honest. You shouldn't present yourself to the world as one thing, when you are really something else.

It is clear to see that the managers who orchestrated this charade were off base, but how about those 75 sales reps and secretaries? They participated only because they were told to. This wasn't their idea. Yet, you get the sense that employees should be sufficiently engaged in their work that they understand what they are doing. As employees, we have an obligation to understand our work, and if we don't, then we are obligated to find out about it. If we discover that we are being asked to participate in a ruse, then we have a serious situation to deal with. It would be wrong to knowingly deceive others, and it would be wrong to stand by and let colleagues do so, even if you don't directly participate.  

We know the troubles brought to our economy by the massive fraud that took place in the mortgage industry a few years ago. Lot's of people were pushing unsuitable mortgages on borrowers. Some borrowers were encouraged to make up income figures and other facts in order to qualify for particular mortgages. Now, mortgage-backed securities are referred to as "toxic." It seems like deceit always catches up with you, even if it seems to pay off in the early going. It certainly caught up to the folks at Enron.

Comments

[Cathy_of_Alex]

Michael: Are the employees equally as culpable in the deceit as the executives? Is there a difference when one has authority over another as far as the limit of culpability?

I know this is an age old question but I'm curious to hear your take on it informed by your research. Apologies if you've discussed at length somewhere and maybe I missed it!