Integrity - the power of One

My understanding of this word "Integrity" transformed over the years.

In my younger days, I used to equate integrity with honesty.  

When we were conducting reference checks of candidates, one typical question used to be, "How would you rate the integrity of this person?" and the typical response used to be, "Impeccable" or "Beyond doubt" or "10 out of 10".  Both the questioner and the responder were asking and responding with an implicit assumption that integrity is same as honesty. 

Over the years, I realized that it is much more than honesty.

Integrity is unity or oneness - of one's thoughts, expressions and actions.

Few days ago, I had this interesting insight which I wanted to validate with few people.

So, the next day, while having a conversation with a friend, I asked her:

"Do you remember that, in my workshops, I used to say that thinking, expressing and doing are all actions and integrity is unity of one's thinking, expressing and doing?  Now, can you tell me what is there beyond thinking?"

She was taken aback a bit.  She wanted me to repeat the question.  I did and elaborated on what I was driving at.  She was still unsure.  After a bit of hesitation, she said, "There is nothing."

"Exactly.  Beyond thinking, there is nothing - no action, complete stillness, the state of being."  

It was a bit overwhelming for her.  So, I lighten it up by saying, "Now I understand what comedian Vadivelu meant when he said that it is difficult to be idle."

We both laughed and left it at that.

To see the Vadivelu comedy

In an organization, there are a set of people who are primarily individual contributors who produce tangible outcomes - they develop new products and services, produce and package them, promote them, accept orders, deliver them to the customers and manage the relationship through after-sales service.

Then there are a set of people who are primarily influencers who produce less tangible outcomes - they understand the strategies of the organization, inspire and enable the contributors to develop action plans and execute them, they monitor and review the execution and they enable the contributors to take remedial actions to contribute more effectively.

Then there are a set of people who are primarily thinkers who produce even subtler outcomes - they develop strategic approach to customers, products and services, processes, technology, positioning, pricing, placement, people and so on.

In a typical organization, the thinkers earn more than the influencers who, in turn, earn more than the individual contributors.

Why is it so?

Such is the way of life: the subtler one's contribution is, the greater the impact is and what one earns, both tangible and intangible, is in direct proportion to the impact one creates.

Now, let's get back to my original question: what is beyond thinking?  Or who is beyond strategic thinkers?  Is there anyone?

Well, there is this organization.

In my workshops, I used to challenge the participants to show me this organization - like Hiranyakashipu challenged Prahalad.  In a quirky way, organization is like God.  It is invisible but it is there.  It contributes, in the subtlest way, to the thinkers, the influencers and the individual contributors.

How?

Through the mission, vision and core values.

Mission, vision and core values permeate the thinking, influencing and contributing aspects of the organization.

If this is true, then why do we have both effective and ineffective organizations?

It is because of the degree of alignment or misalignment between the contributing factors - the mission, vision, core values, strategies, action plans, execution, review and remedial actions.  The greater the degree of alignment, the greater the effectiveness of the organization.

There may still be few organizations who produce either underwhelming or undesirable impact on its stakeholders in spite of a greater degree of alignment of the contributing factors.  What may be the reason?

Well, let's go back to the organization and God analogy.  Who created the organization?  The people of the organization.  It may be an individual or a group of individuals.  They are the ones who created the mission, vision and core values of the organization.  

If the organization is producing underwhelming or undesirable impact, it is primarily because of the faulty paradigms of the individual or group of individuals who created the mission, vision and the core values of the organization.

Paradigm is the way one perceives oneself and the world.  It is the sum total of all the beliefs and traditions accumulated over centuries and the thoughts and beliefs accumulated during one's lifetime through experiences and influences.

Paradigm is beyond thinking.  If the paradigm is faulty, it perpetuates faulty thinking, faulty influences and faulty contributions.

What is beyond paradigms?  

Principles.  Principles are omnipotent and omnipresent.

When the individual or the group of individuals who created the organization or who are sustaining the organization now, question their own paradigms, shed their faulty paradigms and align themselves with principles, then their ability to create or recreate the mission, vision and core values aligned to principles improves significantly.

And that's how a truly integrated organization is created and sustained to produce the greatest positive impact on its stakeholders.

Integrity is unity or oneness - of the principles and one's actions.