Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
We’re continuing our look into integrity in the marketplace. I’m going to look at another example of an ethical decision on the job and see how God’s Word gives us direction.
Case #2
You work for a manager who has a large ego and feels threatened by anyone who makes suggestions for improvement. You have an idea that would improve efficiency, save budget money, and serve the customers better.
Your colleagues agree, but you must have your manager’s approval to make it work. You’re thinking of ways to make him think it’s his idea, but you’re concerned your plan may border on deceit and dishonesty. However, you’re also concerned with getting the job done.
Is there a problem here with honesty? Is this manipulative? If so, is this wrong?
Here’s a passage that will give us some guidance in this decision:
I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).
As we practice integrity in a world that often doesn’t, we may appear naive and simple—like sheep operating in a world of wolves. You may have felt that way on your job at times.
Remember, Jesus has sent us out exactly that way. If we practice integrity in every area of our lives, it may appear we are at the mercy of all those wolves. But as Jesus went on to say, we are not to be stupid in our dealings, but rather we are to be shrewd. Let me remind you shrewd does not mean deceptive or manipulative. Shrewd means “astute or sharp in practical matters.”
Based on that principle, I would think you could find a way in this particular situation to present your ideas in a non-threatening way, dropping seeds here and there, and helping this difficult boss to come to your conclusion. Since the motivation is to do what’s good for the customer, the company and the employees, shrewdness would lead you to find a diplomatic, yet honest way to have your idea accepted.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6).
Allowing someone else to take the credit for what you’ve done is certainly a way to humble yourself. That’s not easy to do, is it? We truly have to be motivated for the good of others to have that kind of attitude.
