The Upside About Living in These Times

At the top of the headlines in the past week, we have read a lot of news to do with the scandalous actions of one Harvey Weinstein. The things that he has done and said to women over time are atrocious, and it’s only right that he is now being reprimanded for these actions.

Of course, it would have been nicer yet if we could have put a stop to his behavior much sooner. If the rumors are correct, countless women were subjected to Weinstein’s advances, and if caught sooner, then we could have theoretically prevented lots of horrible misconduct. Weinstein doesn’t seem to be the only culprit, either. Other headlines I’ve read have shown that other big names in Hollywood may have also perpetuated sexual acts against women way back when. To keep rumors from swelling any further, I’m not going to share names further than Weinstein’s since I can’t seem to verify any of the others.

Regardless, these were acts committed by people because… well, they could get away with it. And strange as it may seem, people the likes of Weinstein have effectively gotten away with it for decades. Sadly, the opportunity was there, and they seized it.

Let’s deviate for a minute. The last few years have been pretty rough for our world and particularly for our nation. People aren’t happy with our president, there has been an uptick in mass shootings, and more. Watching the news is a bit of a bummer. Now you add the Weinstein scandal to the mix, and it’s just another depressing demerit on our society. But there’s one thing all these things have in common: the amount of information shared about them. Now, I’m not going to say the news gets it right 100% of the time, but what I can say is that they’re pretty darned good at gathering (right or wrong) information, disseminating that information, and having people take action on that information.

Two weeks ago, none of us had a solid inkling that Harvey Weinstein engaged in these nefarious affairs. Since then, not only do we know about this information, Weinstein has been fired from his company’s board of directors, and he has also been expelled from the Academy of Motion Pictures. Ouch.

Twenty years ago… I’m not sure this would have been the case. I’m not saying that people as a whole back then condoned the idea of doing bad things to women, but what I am saying is that this information didn’t leak out so easily. It was a lot easier to cover this sort of scandal up, which is precisely why Weinstein was able to get away with it for so long. But times have changed and the dissemination of information has turned this situation on its head in relatively no time at all.

So, you’re probably wondering, what’s this got to do with business?

Look back to the statement I bolded above: [news outlets are] pretty darned good at gathering (right or wrong) information, disseminating that information, and having people take action on that information. This goes way beyond Harvey Weinstein. This also means now that business leaders are subject to much more scrutiny, almost forcing their hand to act favorably for both their employees and their consumers. (Or face the consequences.)

In my ChFC studies, I’m currently reading about something called the “fraud triangle”. The fraud triangle comprises three components of an individual likely to commit fraudulent acts: pressure, rationalization, and opportunity. Setting aside pressure and rationalization right now, that “opportunity” factor has drastically changed over time with emerging legislation and technology. In other words, there’s much less opportunity to be fraudulent today than there ever was in the past.

I think the biggest beneficiaries of this new world are going to be the employees lower on the totem pole in an organization. Where “boys clubs” may have been a thing of the last century, there is no way that sort of thing would be accepted in our modern society. Where women were sexually abused for quid pro quo positions, the opportunity for that to happen has been tamped down significantly. Nothing ever disappears entirely, but the good news is that this societal shift is inevitably going to lead to leaders with better integrity. (Or else…!)

That’s my thought of the day. I know we get down on society a lot, but I do genuinely think this is a sunny thing to look forward to in the future. Hope I brought a little sunshine into your day and also hope y’all have a great weekend!

This post originated on my personal blog, @dkhundley, sharing personal development ideas and showcasing my graphic design work. Check it out over at www.dkhundley.com.