I have even heard wisecracks made about 'business people' in the presence of men and women who are, in fact, part of this much maligned community. I have seen and heard these people laugh at the jokes and cutting comments as if these judgment are about the other 'business people' -- not them. I recall going into a bookstore some years back and asking about a book called Business Ethics. As the clerk moved to the computer to check his inventory, he muttered, 'Now there's an oxymoron.'

Most of the time when people refer to 'business people' it is done with a negative connotation. We see it in the news media
when the newscasters and writers refer to 'the suits' who are, after all, the 'business people' who 'only are interested in the bottom line.'

We hear it whenever anyone in any artistic endeavor references how the influence of the 'business people' has made economics the only priority. We've heard 'business people' referred to pejoratively in professional sports, as people start seeing their heroes as mere pawns in big business dealings. How often do we hear, 'Well, what can you expect? It is a business after all.'Several years ago Nations Bank acquired California's own Bank of America and CEO Hugh McColl blatantly ignored promises he made beforehand and laid off thousands. The San Francisco Examiner -- while critical of the morality of McColl's actions -- summarized their story with an implied endorsement of the man 'who you'd definitely want in your corner when it comes to business.'

This characterization of McColl made my blood boil -- not so much for the affirmation of his actions but because the newspaper was so ready to accept the practice of un-kept promises and betrayed trust as 'business as usual.'
If we take a few minutes to see who these 'business people', are we will find that most of us belong to this community of people loosely defined as 'business people.'

Surprised? Well, if you work for a company or own your own business, you are part of an economic system that traditionally honors economic gain more than anything. As a player in that system, you contribute in a very direct way to business being the way it is.
Therefore, you ARE one of those 'business people' who you've probably criticized before. If you are a manager or an investor you are one of the 'business people.' If you work for a governmental agency, or a non-profit organization, and do things differently because of budgets, funding or following manager's procedures, you are one of them.

Near as I can tell, the only people who aren't part of this economic system that has become so dominant these days are monks or nuns in monastic settings who grow their own food and are completely self-reliant.

In other words, anyone who deals with, is persuaded by, or receives gain from money or the exchange of goods and services is a 'business person.' They are all parts of the system of commerce we call business.

Now that we can see that most of us belong to this group of people we've come to denigrate so often, why do 'we' have this reputation for being so greedy, unethical, ruthless and uncaring, and myopic when it comes to people, life balance, and the environment?
The answer lies in the system we all make up
-- the business system or the culture of economic dominance in which we all play our various roles. Normally, good people will tend to behave in ways they would never consider when they are immersed in certain social systems.

This is very obvious in some cases -- like religious cults, teenage gangs, militia groups, revolutionary terrorists and other groups that usually appeal to a smaller part of the population. I suppose the worst case example of a system-gone-wrong would be a lynch mob.
I'm using the term 'system' to describe a set of expectations and relational dynamics -- like 'rules' that people subscribe to. For instance, a relatively benign example: your family may have a tradition of making a toast during a particular holiday before dinner and, when the situation occurs, you feel certain pressures to conform. So you join in the toast.
But some systems can be much more demanding. Let's say you are a rookie police officer assigned to a precinct where there has been a tradition that you never learned in the police academy.

You are told by your partner that 'this is the way we do things here' and the intense intimidation on the first day gradually becomes a routine months later. Eventually, you may be the veteran telling the new rookies 'how things are done' on the job. It has simply become the way you do the job.

Systems in business are what corporate consultants call 'company culture.' One great story about how corporate cultures can be perpetuated is the story of the five apes which I included in my last book -- Getting to the Better Future.

Put five apes in a room. Hang a banana from the ceiling and place a ladder underneath the banana. The banana is only reachable by climbing the ladder.
Have it set up so any time an ape starts to climb the ladder, the whole room is sprayed with ice cold water. In a short time, all the apes will learn not to climb the ladder.

Now... take one ape out and replace him with another one (Ape #6). Then disable the sprayer. The new ape will start to climb the ladder and will be attacked unmercifully by the other four apes. He will have no idea why he was attacked. Replace another of the original apes with a new one and the same thing will happen, with ape 6 doing the most hitting.

Continue this pattern until all the original apes have been replaced. Now all of the apes will stay off the ladder, attacking any ape that attempts to, and have absolutely no idea why they are doing it.

This is how company policy and culture is formed.

We underestimate the power and influence of the systems we belong to, particularly those systems to which we become attached emotionally. Each of us is a member -- formally or informally -- of many systems. And most of these systems include an emotional component, like a loyalty, some personal identification or source of pride, something that represents meaning to us. Each of us has a nationality, a race, religious background, family heritage, education background, childhood experiences, and other historic influences which still affect us in subtle ways.

Each of us belongs to some community, in some city or town, in some state or province, in some country, possibly belonging to one political party or another, work within some industry or profession and belong to a group of co-workers or friends with whom we share many values. We may be a fan of certain sports and admire certain superstars or actors or musicians or other people who influence us. In all so many ways, we identify with many of these systems or cultures or communities.

On their own, systems do not have consciences. The only thing that keeps a system moral and a sense of integrity is the people who make it up.

If the people within any system tend to take it for granted or take a nap from the every day events that occur within the system, bad behavior can start manifesting. If some person, a human being, doesn't notice when this occurs, it is likely to go unchallenged and even devolve into 'the way things are done here.'This is how Enron's debacle happened. This is how empires implode. This is how political dynasties come to an end. This is how seemingly successful companies shock the world by declaring bankruptcy.

The organizations or systems begin to tolerate shadow-like behavior which festers into even darker and more entrenched ways of being and then, out of the blue, they disintegrate seemingly overnight and people wonder what happened. This is the insidious nature of systems dysfunction.

The antidote is consciousness. The answer is at least one person who notices and says something. Be they whistleblowers or simply people who haven't fallen asleep, these people are the sole antibody to this organizational pandemic. Hundreds of systems influence each of us. Like chords tied by the Lilliputians, our Gulliver is pulled in many directions -- most of which we are unaware. One way to be more aware of these forces, these pressures to act and think in certain ways, is for us to become more conscious, to know ourselves so well we don't make any choices that are not conscious choices. We don't unconsciously decide anything!

Can this level of consciousness really be achieved? It certainly is an ideal to strive for, however, even if it is never reached. I know I'm a long way from being this conscious although I strive for it constantly in my own growth. The greater one's consciousness, the more aware one becomes about the choices one is making and, therefore, one can exercise
conscious discernment about what he or she will do or won't do.

Until this state of consciousness is realized, people will make many unconscious choices because they are unaware of the influences of the systems in which they live and work, now or in the past.

Good people do bad things in business because they

do not appreciate the power of the systems that influence them while they are 'asleep' from a consciousness perspective. Like people who can be easily hypnotized, unconsciousness allows forces to permeate us in ways we hardly understand.

These forces find their ways into our psyches and search out each and every shadow or bit of darkness within us. These bits of darkness are our unconscious insecurities and fears which make us vulnerable and susceptible to anything which panders to these hidden parts of ourselves.

The only reason there is darkness within us is that we haven't become aware of those parts of ourselves; we've denied them and pushed them back into our subconscious, evicting them from our consciousness and burying them in the catacombs of our minds where we hope to never see them again. This burial makes us susceptible to the ghosts which can come to haunt us later when the oh-so-subtle but so very powerful forces of the systems in which we hang out have their way with us.

The world's most dominant system is the economic system that drives almost every other system around the globe. Economics is the '800 pound gorilla' and most of us do what it wants! Business is wedded to this monster gorilla, making it one of the most dominating and intimidating forces in the world.

When such dominating systems do something even a 'little bad' the effects can be disastrous. Likewise, when systems this powerful do anything the least bit 'good' the effects can be amazingly beneficial.

Think about it. All the other systems are prepared to interact with business in a certain way -- a way that they have come to expect over the years. Any departure from the common perception of business people being 'bad' could have an incredibly beneficial result in the world.
All we need is for more 'business people' to become more conscious so they can be more themselves and less like automatons of the system to which they belong.
So, all we need to do in order to have 'good people' do 'good things' in business is for people to become more aware of themselves, the influences that surround them and make responsible choices despite pressures to choose differently.