Jan 04 2009
Doing the Right Thing
That TV commercial showing people doing nice things for strangers generated more than some warm-fuzzy feelings. Viewers loved the idea that a business would promote kindness, and sent a deluge of letters and emails to the company, praising the concept of promoting personal responsibility.
So LIBERTY MUTUAL went one step further, creating a web site and developing a few short films, encouraging people to explore what it means to ‘do the right thing’. Their home page states clearly:
“WE BELIEVE THE MORE PEOPLE THINK AND TALK ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY, THE MORE THE WORLD BECOMES A BETTER PLACE.” The Responsibility Project
At the site, people can read and comment on true stories about personal responsibility, learn about the writers, actors, and film crew who contributed to the movies, and follow journalist Kathy McManus as she blogs about responsibility as it relates to TV, celebrities, films, sports, the Internet, and much more. There is even a “Responsibility Index” reflecting survey results about how responsible people think they are, when compared to others.
Can The Responsibility Project raise awareness about how we treat each other? Can it help people understand what is meant by doing the right thing? Or are only caring, considerate people the ones who are watching and listening?
Doing the right thing doesn’t always require a grand gesture like returning a lost wallet or changing a tire in pouring rain. Think about work, and the people who would leave the fax machine without toner, tell no one, and simply walk away. (It’s not their job, you know). What about the ones who regularly leave their dirty coffee cup in the breakroom sink? (Someone else will take care of it - eventually). Let’s not forget the manager who waits until late in the day to request that a large project be completed by morning.
What do you say? Will thinking and talking about responsibility help people at work learn to do the right thing?
Good article. The “Golden Rule” applies at work as well as home. I remember a “how to succeed in business” tip from the seventies: be nice, especially when it doesn’t cost you anything. And, yes, time is money — but a few seconds to put more paper in the copier, rinse the cup, or at least tell someone there is a machine malfunctioning - that time is de minimus.