It was certainly an interesting way to begin my journey to Gladwell’s 10,000 hours to become an expert. What did the local Community Centre have budget for way back then for me as a mother of a sleepy and somewhat boring but delicious baby? An alcohol education program for convicted drink drivers! Thus began my journey into the world of tough audiences that meant any group I ever had after my three years of Wednesday nights in East Bentleigh were always going to seem easy.

As they often do, my four week evening course (I didn’t leave the baby home alone) would begin with introductions around the room and a “How I came to be here” care/share moment. Well, I’ve already told you how I got there. Then one participant proceeds to tell his story of the “bastard cops who pinged me (that’s him) down a side street”. His righteous indignation given that he never disputed his blood alcohol concentration reading was somewhat shocking to me, but I had the sense to remain impassive and tell myself I was not there to judge but to shift attitudes if I could. 

The anger, the rage and the justification of such wrongdoing (by the drink driver, not the police who caught them) was one of those recurring sliding door moments for me in the dark art of shooting the messenger. Severus Snape would be proud.  Over the past 25 years I’ve seen it so many times in business; the bullying of the whistle blower, the isolation of those who protest bad change, the hiding or reframing of bad news because of those Colonel Nathan R. Jessup moments when we “can’t handle the truth”. 

It is not for me to say whether or not we need a royal commission into banks. The Labour catch cry is certainly “populist”; an easy election promise to understand and catches the wave of bank-hating fervour. Others would say if banks are engaging in questionable practices, is that not for ASIC and its increased powers and budget? If banks are price gouging or colluding with competitors on interest rates, is that not for the ACCC?  

The unnamed IOOF whistle blower or protected disclosurer (I make up language as it suits me) is smart not to be named. Could they ever get a job again?

The single biggest case of gender discrimination in this country involved Mark McInnes. I watched with interest to see where he would bob up next. He wasn’t the victim or the whistle blower. He was the alleged perpetrator. But Solly Lew was happy to hire him and he seems to have done a great job if we judge by financial metrics. Where is Kristy Fraser-Kirk now? Did anyone roll out the red employment carpet for her? She was the alleged victim.

As long as we can hold on to the “bastard cop” mentality, regulators have a tough gig. Can we be regulators and business partners? The police certainly think so. They have no choice. The police force must garner trust and confidence from the community as a clear strategy to solve crime (both current cases and cold crime); that is, the police must collaborate with and educate the community and the police must also be the enforcer when required. This is what we’re asking of ASIC too but they’ve chased lots of alleged foxes down rabbit holes without a lot of success in the 80’s and 90’s so guess what? Now they’re risk averse!  My last gig with them was a decade ago but I’m sure Karen Chester of the Productivity Commission is right.

Our collective ability to defend the indefensible and justify the unjust goes something like this.

I/We did nothing wrong.

If I/We did anything wrong, it wasn’t that bad.

If I/We did anything wrong, it wasn’t anything more wrong than anyone else’s wrongdoing.

If I/We did anything wrong, it’s the “bastard cops” who should be blamed for saying so.

And if we DO find out who the protected disclosurer was, we should exclude or isolate them for causing us so much trouble.

Of course, the conversation we are really having here is about ethics. Companies have to select employees at all levels who want to do the right thing and know what that looks like. You can’t teach character.

Moreover, organisations must create a culture where people know they have to do the right thing; where people can “speak truth to power” and finally, where we don’t shoot the messengers or the passengers who get tarred, or more likely, whacked with the same (hard) brush because their “crime” was to refuse to defend the indefensible.