The Power Problem
What have been the two biggest reasons for murder throughout human history?
If you guessed God and Country, or religion and patriotism, you would be spot on. Not only have we been mercilessly killing our own species, organized religion and the idea of patriotism have forever justified and glorified the killing. Incidentally within the animal kingdom, primates – humans, apes, monkeys, and lemurs – are the most murderous, and it continues until today. At the time of writing, at least two wars (Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas) are ongoing. Even though a win-win solution is possible in most geopolitical and social conflicts, the old “divide and rule” formula is still intact in modern politics.
The situation in business is no different. Throughout history, entrepreneurs have abused the power of wealth to dominate markets and influence behavior. From the Dutch and English East India companies to modern-day corporate giants, many have maximized their profits and influence without considering broader implications to society. The recent TV series Rise of the Billionaires is a great reminder. It cites some tech companies that dropped their original noble missions of making the world a better place as their market dominance grew.
If the current hype is true, AI will forever change how we live and work going forward. Whether AI will eventually do more good or harm remains to be seen. Some early signs are not encouraging. Sam Altman’s Open AI has given up its mission to keep AI open and free. It has also quietly reversed its policy of not using AI for war and defense. Palmer Luckey, the 31-year-old founder of Anduril Industries, is making deadly AI-controlled weapons like the ALTIUS-600M attack drone, thereby earning the label of “the Oppenheimer of Silicon Valley.” Luckey justifies his endeavor in the name of patriotism because his weapons will help the US in “avoiding American boots on the ground in armed conflict.”
Be it in politics, religion, or business, power is being used to maximize narrow interests at the expense of humanity’s survival. In the current era of existential challenges like climate change and huge socioeconomic inequality, we need the exact opposite. The ground-breaking innovation needed to defeat the challenges will require massive collaboration across borders, religions, and corporations.
To increase the chances of humanity’s survival, religious, political, and business bosses will need to use their power differently.
Power + Integrity: Still Not Enough
Maximizing one’s wealth and influence is a normal human tendency. At a recent conference where I gave the keynote, one delegate asked, “What is wrong with pursuing power if it is amassed with integrity?”
The answer depends on how we define integrity. While there are many confusing interpretations, for many people, an attractive definition would be the legal view, characterised by a clear code of laws and rules. In a democracy, the law often reflects society’s ethics. In this sense of the word, if you don’t lie, steal, kill, or do anything that is forbidden by law, you would be considered a person of integrity. But therein lies the problem with this view: What of behaviors that don’t fall within the purview of the judicial system?
Consider this: If Sam Altman and Palmer Luckey who produce AI-based products were to ask themselves if doing so was illegal, the answer would be a clear NO. Why? Because laws about the right and wrong use of AI are yet unwritten. And before they are eventually written, a huge amount of harm can possibly be done while the AI tzars accumulate tremendous power. This is exactly what happened with some technology companies. Laws on personal data protection were written long after massive harm was already caused while these companies amassed unimaginable power. Tech companies are not the only ones. History is littered with examples (like Enron, Wirecard, Lehman Brothers, and many more) where companies from nearly every industry have often taken a narrow view of integrity to justify their decisions and actions.
So, power + integrity, while better than the indiscriminate use of power, is still not enough to address today’s challenges.
The Solution?
Power + Integrity + Ethics (PIE)
To ensure power is used for good rather than evil, we need a higher form of integrity – Ethical Integrity.
Ethics are a set of moral principles or rules that say what is acceptable and what is not. While something may not be legally forbidden, it might still be unethical. For instance, not lying does not mean you are telling the truth. If you conceal the truth without lying you might not be breaking the law but could still be causing harm. Take Enron for example. Initially, the management team did not break any laws. They found loopholes to override the principles or values behind the laws, causing significant harm to millions of ordinary people.
Clearly, solely relying on the law to police our actions will not be enough. The distinction between legality and morality is again seen in bullying. Before it crosses into criminal action, bullying remains legal, but few would argue that it is moral. Instead of retrospectively reacting to external developments like AI and creating laws long after the damage has been done (as was the case after the Enron scandal), we need to proactively ensure our survival as a species by upholding ethical standards and doing what is good for humanity.
When power is used with integrity and ethics, it can become a massive force for good because ethical integrity says we should choose our actions not just based on the letter of the law, but also its spirit. Simply asking whether an action might be legal or illegal is not enough. We ought to ask how we should act (or not) if we were to fully live by our ethical values.
With several existential challenges threatening our planet and species, we need ethical integrity more today.
Take climate change for instance. In most countries, there are no laws about recycling or reducing our carbon footprint. So, if we continue to overuse plastic or don’t do what we can within our means to reduce our individual carbon footprint, we cannot technically be considered lacking in integrity. But is it ethical? For large corporations who continue to produce and sell environmentally and socially harmful products without investing appropriately in a cleaner and inclusive future, it might not be illegal but is it ethical? Even though doing nothing is not commonly considered low integrity, I would argue that in today’s context, inaction on environmental and social challenges is unethical.
In the business world, those acting with ethical integrity are proactively creating profitable solutions to such challenges. Those acting with integrity alone are simply checking the boxes to meet regulatory requirements. Of course, there are also players who knowingly greenwash or window dress to hide the harmful effects of their business. These players are profiting from today’s challenges.
Are you profiting from today’s existential challenges or are you finding profitable solutions?
Image credit: Rajeev Peshawaria.
The power of corporations cannot be understated. As of 2021, Apple’s market value is 2.1 times Mexico’s GDP, Amazon’s market value is 4 times Austria’s GDP, and Meta’s market value is 4.1 times New Zealand’s GDP. Corporations have great power to make change, positive or negative, but to maximize the positive impact, they cannot lose sight of the real challenges.
The enemy today is not another competitor company, political party or country. The biggest threats today are environmental and social, challenging the survival of planet Earth and all of humanity. Only if we redefine how we use our power and unite to put our best foot forward collectively will we stand a chance to save ourselves and our only home. Throughout history, we have played the win-lose game to gain at the expense of others. While there is nothing wrong with the human desire to maximize wealth and power, it is time to start playing win-win.
So, how you use your PIE is an individual choice. You can choose to enlarge the pie for collective prosperity including your own, or divide it for personal gain.
