Why do people park their ethics in the driveway as they go to work?

26-04-2018

As the shocking revelations of unethical, even illegal, behaviour continue to flow from the banking royal commission, there’s an obvious, albeit perhaps unanswerable, question. Why do good people and trusted institutions do bad things? It’s not a new question. It’s one that books, theses and countless articles in scholarly business journals have posed without any definitive answer emerging. It remains a conundrum, therefore, that intelligent, well-paid, successful people who behave ethically and decently in their private lives somehow park those ethics in their driveways as they leave for work.