Lance…Say it isn’t so!

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect

Mark Twain

Revelations this week about alleged doping by Lance Armstrong and other riders of the U.S. Postal Team were shocking, but not surprising.  Armstrong, the cancer survivor who has donated millions through Livestrong and other endeavors has been viewed by many as an American icon.

The problem is not that cyclists doped, it is that such activity became pervasive in the culture of the sport. It became accepted as a norm. I often talk about the “cadence of competition” in the context of strategy. Competitors often look, sound and smell the same, in everything from the language of their salespeople to the design of their trade show booths. Unfortunately, such patterns can also take on the form of cheating and deceit.

Sometimes, good people such as Tyler Hamilton (who gave his account on 60 Minutes) get sucked into the eye of the storm.  As we learned during the liquidity crises, many financial institutions were duped into financial instruments such as credit default swaps based on a premise that loans were made based on fundamental lending principles (which had long since eroded). When immorality and non-adherence to the law becomes commonplace, entire industries can implode.

I have a client whose competitors consistently skirt regulations. They are accepting the burden of risk, that the likelihood of getting caught, fined, or sued is outweighed by the motive of profit. In the case of my client, their unwillingness to play in a sandbox with a group of hooligans puts them at a competitive disadvantage; in the short term.

But in the end, I believe my client will win. The cheaters seldom prosper, and in a world where transparency is king, the noose will eventually tighten. If an entrepreneur is found with his hand in the regulatory cookie jar, he may never recover.  We live in a litigious world, where outrageous awards are not uncommon.  The entrepreneur really has to ask a fundamental question, is it really worth it to discount one’s values for a few percentage points?

The internet has brought many unintended consequences and one of them is that information, whether it is true or false travels very quickly. Organizations who do not act responsibly will have a cross to bear in the future. Don’t let your organization be one of them.

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