Man for Himself (Pt II)

"Keep your own advantage in mind, act according to what's best for you; by so doing you will also be acting for the greatest advantage of others."

Sometimes I think I'm too suspicious and cynical to be a good humanist. After all, isn't one of the basic tenets of humanism faith in humankind? Yet I have blindspots of possibly-irrational distrust of/in human nature. Like when it comes to having work done on my car.

I'm writing this right now in part so that I can't spend the time thinking of all the ways I could be getting screwed over right now by the people who have my car. (I've had some really bad experiences with car repair. They've made me more than a little suspicious of the entire automotive repair industry.)

I don't generally think that the profit motive is an entirely bad thing. But we're talking about that gray area just beyond the profit motive where the desire for more money causes one to exaggerate the actual need for, or cost of, an item in an attempt to exploit the customer. This area is generally referred to as Greed, and perceived to be a bad thing. These days special attention is paid to Corporate Greed as an especially destructive form of Greed.

It's fair to say that I'm more suspicious of a larger institutional imperative to make money at my expense than I am of the intentions of any single individual. (My regular mechanic is unavailable. My car is currently with a 'larger institution'.) An institution lacks the vulnerability of a single individual when it comes to trust-based transactions. Yet an institution is comprised of nothing but individuals. So how does the behavior of the collective come to reflect attributes that most individuals are sufficiently reluctant to own?

Here we could digress into a discussion on the diffusion of responsibility in situations where "underlings claim that they were just following orders and supervisors claim that they were just issuing directives and not doing the deeds." But as I am looking for reasons to be hopeful (about my car repair, and humanity in general), I'll pass along this instead.

Here is the short version of the "Hippocratic oath for managers" taken by "around half of this year’s graduating class" of Harvard MBAs.

"THE MBA OATH

As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater good by bringing people and resources together to create value that no single individual can create alone. Therefore I will seek a course that enhances the value my enterprise can create for society over the long term. I recognize my decisions can have far-reaching consequences that affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and in the future. As I reconcile the interests of different constituencies, I will face choices that are not easy for me and others.

Therefore I promise:

I will act with utmost integrity and pursue my work in an ethical manner.

I will safeguard the interests of my shareholders, co-workers, customers and the society in which we operate.

I will manage my enterprise in good faith, guarding against decisions and behavior that advance my own narrow ambitions but harm the enterprise and the societies it serves.

I will understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct and that of my enterprise.

I will take responsibility for my actions, and I will represent the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.

I will develop both myself and other managers under my supervision so that the profession continues to grow and contribute to the well-being of society.

I will strive to create sustainable economic, social, and environmental prosperity worldwide.

I will be accountable to my peers and they will be accountable to me for living by this oath.

This oath I make freely, and upon my honor." (from mbaoath.org, longer version here)

Now the real question - Would I feel better about my car repair situation if I knew that one or more of the managers had taken this oath?

Maybe.