Remember Andrew Faslow? He was the 37 year old CFO for Enron….an shining example of intellect, hard work, and success. Until Enron imploded, and he went to prison.

I thought this was a very interesting article where he talks about his experiences with Tuck students in an ethics class. Many times, we think ethics are obvious….”Don’t steal”, “don’t break the rules.”  What he points out is that in the pursuit of winning, he used his intellect to figure out the loopholes and his persuasiveness to bring everyone along with him. Eventually, he drifted from inside the line to outside the line.

A couple of things to think about:

1. The “spirit” of the law versus the “letter” of the law. Sometimes rules and policies don’t catch up or cover every situation. That’s when judgment comes in. Just because there isn’t a policy or a rule about doing something, doesn’t mean it’s ok. Absence does not equal approval.

2. Fastow talks about the excuses and rationalizations commonly used : “It’s industry practice.”, “It’s not material.”  As my friend’s Sicilian mother used to tell him: “Excuses are the skin of a reason wrapped around a lie.”

3. Beware the Pied Pipers. These are people who either charm or bully others into going along, even when your gut says no. If you took out the personality, would you still be doing what this person is asking?

The saddest part of this article? When his 8 year old son told him “Dad, you’re not famous. You’re infamous.”