Honesty and Altrusim - Receipe for Heroics

If you found a camera at a local park what would you do with it... Take it to lost and found, or pocket it and consider it a lucky find? The Surnams, a Scottish couple, found an Olympus camera when hiking around Bronze age ruins. They turned it over to police. Since no one claimed it in eight weeks, police returned it to the couple. Interestingly, the Surnams didn't stop there because they thought they saw over 600 honeymoon photos on the camera. So they put some photos on Flickr to see if they could locate the owner. As I read the article, I was curious about people's honesty and altruism. I wondered how many people would go to so much trouble to return a camera. What do you think?

Intriguingly, if you think others' eyes are on you, you would be most likely to "do the right thing. "The brain naturally reacts to images of faces and eyes. "People behave differently when they believe they are being watched, according to UK researchers, "because they are worried what others will think of them."

In business today, owners sense a few people are honest and not prone to stealing, USA Today reporter found in a poll she conducted, but a majority of the owners Gladys Edmunds asked "believed that all employees at some point remove items from work for their personal use."

In light of this, the Scottish couple, acted extraordinarily, since they not only chose what was right, but also went the extra mile. When they left the Bronze ruins, they had to drive to a police station and fill out a report in order to turn in the camera. Pure altruism? Since they thought these might be honeymoon pictures, they thought of how they'd feel if they had lost their camera. This sense helped propel their actions according to the story. Would you go so far as to say they are heroes?

People who don't cheat and who are honest are more like heroes, Sara Staats, of Ohio State University contends...

Students who don’t cheat seem to be in the minority, and have plenty of opportunities to see their peers cheat and receive the rewards with little risk of punishment,” Staats said. “We see avoiding cheating as a form of everyday heroism in an academic setting.”

The Surman's went the extra mile to be kind to someone else. Do you see this very often at work? Who would you name as a "hero" where you work and why? I will do a follow-up on your workplace heroes the first week in May to include your stories.

Peanuts cartoon obtained from australaisianbioethics

Envy Curtails Productivity

Ever sensed a colleague on the job didn't deserve the promotion and that your talents were overlooked? Envy can easily flow like acid reflux. Initial reactions may lead you to swallow pride and offer congratulations or you might ignore your colleague and talk to others who may share your sentiments. Remarkably, envy's often veiled within us because it's socially unacceptable.

Four factors feed envy and cause it to ferment in today's offices, according to Judith Sills, a Philadelphia-based clinical psychologist:

A highly competitive workplace culture

An emotional dunce of a boss

Favoritism in our families of origin

Exceptional achievement that ticks off everyone else.

“Envy is the fear of losing social standing. ... It can affect people in subtle and unseen ways. People don’t want to admit to it. ... If you’re admitting that you’re jealous, you’re admitting that you have a sense of inferiority,” Robert Vecchio, professor of management at Notre Dame, contends.

Managers often shy away when it comes to envy because they don't want to deal with "emotions" in the workplace. "It's considered childish or inappropriate to talk about," Robert Vecchio, says.

Envy costs in the end.. it affects more than just emotions within a firm. A perceived slight can lead a worker to fume and impede productivity. And, if the worker seeks to get even -- files might disappear or...

Unfortunately it's hard for people to forget perceived social put downs...

Our brain's cerebral cortex easily replays scenes that created envy. Though complex thinking, perception and language processing is the primary function of the cerebral cortex, it may have an unintended effect of allowing humans to relive, re-experience, and suffer social pain. You can see why incidents are hard to put away, unlike physical pain that's soon forgotten.

Then how would a supervisor, manager or boss turn an environment racked with jealousy upside down? Since envy breeds in a highly competitive environments, how about starting here...

1. Share decision making.

2. List clear job descriptions and performance expectations and stick to these consistently based on employees' performance.

3. Delegate work to people demonstrating talents, who follow through to finish with timeliness.

4. Take time to chat with employees to really listen and know their concerns.

5. Encourage good work accomplished.

6. Demonstrate respect for colleagues and employees daily. Start by using their names more and smiling when you pass them.

7. Invite diverse views at project roundtables.

8. Lead interactive sessions on ways to work collaboratively. Draw most input from employees.

9. Play together. Create such opportunities based on employees' input.

10. Alternate "drudgery" tasks so these are shared more.

How do you handle over-competitiveness and its fallout at your organization? What solutions would you add?