On the home page of the Integrous website we say that faithful integrity is more than “doing good”.  In fact, we believe “doing good” is not enough for a faithful leader.  It is not enough because “doing good” is always a WHAT, and a WHAT is never enough in the Kingdom of God.  God also cares about HOW and WHEN, but God particularly cares about WHY. Scripture reminds us:

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. (Proverbs 16:2

God sees through the WHAT (even a noble WHAT) to the real WHY.

The inadequacy of “doing good” was highlighted on a recent cover of Fast Company magazine with an article by James Surowiecki titled “How ‘business for good’ went bad–and what comes next.”  It was followed by an article by Stephanie Mehta titled “Corporate America soured on ‘business for good.’ Here’s how to reframe conscious capitalism.”

In short, “doing good” went “bad” because the WHAT had the wrong WHY.  What are the WHY problems that can turn “good” to “bad”?

When “Doing Good” Has No Clothes

You are probably familiar with the expression “The emperor has no clothes” (based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes“). As a refresher, there was an emperor “exceedingly fond of new clothes”. Two “swindlers” came along and offered to weave a garment that could not be seen by fools and those unfit for their office. The emperor certainly couldn’t admit that he was unable to see the invisible garment. When he paraded through the city, no one else could admit they saw nothing.  It took a little child:

“But he hasn’t got anything on,” a little child said. “Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?” said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, “He hasn’t anything on. A child says he hasn’t anything on.” “But he hasn’t got anything on!” the whole town cried out at last. The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, “This procession has got to go on.” So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn’t there at all.

Sometimes “doing good” is not enough because it has no substance.  Just as the emperor didn’t really have any clothes, an organization “doing good” may not really be about “doing good”.

In post #159 (Caring for People–Heart, Hype or Hustle?), we explored how hype and hustle can be the real motivators behind “doing good”.

What we mean by hype is when an organization’s actions or words toward “doing good” are really about impressing or placating third parties such as employees, customers, vendors, owners or regulators.

What we mean by hustle is when an organization’s actions or words toward “doing good” are really a strategy to achieve another end, usually one tied to Profit as Purpose such as attracting employees, retaining employees, lowering costs or increasing revenue.

The phenomenon of “doing good” having no clothes is captured by the phrase “doing well by doing good.”  It is the phrase Surowiecki uses to describe the stakeholder capitalism movement he says “had become mainstream” in the last several years.

In his article, Surowiecki describes the tainted WHY that drove many organizations to a WHAT of “doing good”:

The biggest corporations and investment firms in America joined in, largely because their employees wanted them to, and the low unemployment and tight labor markets of the second half of the 2010s forced them to comply.

“Their employees wanted them to” is hype, and “low unemployment and tight labor markets . . . forced them to” is hustle. “Doing good” went bad because political forces and market forces started demanding something different. The emperor’s nakedness was revealed.

The emperor’s nakedness was also revealed by critics pointing out that the hype had no substance at all.  This was particularly evident in the criticism brought on by the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) movement. As we pointed out in post #183 (Integrity Idea 028: Embrace “Biblical ESG”), ESG proclamations by companies and ESG investment vehicles were shown to have little real ESG impact behind them. As noted by lawyer and blogger Kyle Westaway:

The left accurately called out greenwashing where environmental commitments existed mainly in marketing materials rather than supply chains. What troubled me most was how the movement’s rapid adoption created a culture where companies received credit simply for making the right statements or setting ambitious targets, regardless of whether they were doing the hard work of actually integrating stakeholder considerations into their business models. This performative aspect, combined with overpromising and underdelivering, likely set the movement back by years and gave ammunition to critics who were already skeptical of capitalism’s capacity for self-reform.

Looking at what we are calling hustle, Mehta notes in her article that proponents of “business for good” argue that it “needs to be underpinned by benefits to the business such as cost savings or customer acquisition.” She quotes the founder and former CEO of Fair Trade USA as saying:

“Most corporations are adopting ethical sourcing not because of values but because of enlightened self-interest. They see an opportunity either to de-risk their supply chains or tap into the growing conscious-consumer segment that is looking for sustainable products.“

If you have been following our posts, you will recognize “self-interest”, enlightened or not, as one of the key attributes of business as usual–business in the way of the kingdom of the world–flowing from Profit as Purpose. We explored the Self-Interest Assumption in post #171 (How the World’s “Way” Wrecks “Work”).  “Doing good” because of enlightened self-interest is not really “doing good”–it is a strategy for “doing well”.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink made headlines when his annual letter in 2018 seemed to endorse stakeholder capitalism. In his 2022 letter, Fink again focused on “stakeholder capitalism” and even announced that BlackRock was launching a Center for Stakeholder Capitalism.  We suggested in post #105 (Business a Better Way vs Stakeholder Capitalism) that Fink’s 2022 BlackRock letter was much more honest than his 2018 letter that his “stakeholder capitalism” was about Profit as Purpose.

When rhetoric is pushed aside, Fink’s view of “stakeholder capitalism” justifies serving all stakeholders because it maximizes long-term profitability for shareholders. It is “doing well by doing good”. In his Fast Company article, Surowiecki quotes Tariq Fancy, the former chief investment officer for sustainable investing at BlackRock:

My read of Larry Fink is that he will do absolutely everything in his capacity to solve climate change, as long as it doesn’t cost him a cent.

“Doing good” (a WHAT) for self-interested reasons (the WHY) “goes bad” when it (the WHAT) no longer works or is no longer needed to serve those reasons (the WHY).  We have examined in prior posts what happened to “do good” behavior when the tight labor market softened and activist shareholders began demanding cost-cutting.

Technology companies became famous for the perks and freebies offered to employees.  During the tight labor market created by the Great Resignation (which we explained in post #120  should really be called the Great De-Humanization), companies began offering additional benefits, including the flexibility to work remotely, to attract and retain employees.  The real WHY behind these “caring” actions and initiatives became evident as the economy declined and the labor market loosened.

In 2023, the Financial Times published an article titled “Bye-bye massages and free food: Big Tech cuts back perks” in which the author observed:

Amid fierce competition for people at a time of huge profits, workers have had a sweetheart deal from Silicon Valley. Companies used an array of benefits and freebies to attract and retain talent as well as to keep employees in the office, preferably wearing branded clothing. . . .  But with the balance of power tilting away from employees in the current market and with investors putting pressure on executives to boost profitability, companies are cutting back.

The ideas of “doing well by doing good” also creeps into the “doing good” actions of faithful leaders seeking to integrate faith and work.  It appears as the faith as usual Side Road we call Prosperitizing, which flows from the “Bless You” Pill.  It is when leaders pursue leading faithfully because they believe it will lead to God blessing their business with worldly success–measured in terms of profit and growth.

A business detoured onto the Side Road of Prosperitizing may look like it is on the ancient path of business a better way.  But like an enlightened secular business that “does good” so long as it continues to be good for the bottom line, the Prosperitizing business is “doing” leading with faithful integrity so long as God comes back with the right blessing of material prosperity.

The leader will likely “feel good” about himself or herself and is certain to receive affirmation from others and get put on stage at faith/work events and written about in books to share the practices they have instituted.  But leading with faithful integrity is being done for the wrong reasons. As Larry Crabb wrote, “Biblical principles are reduced to basic principles of the world when they’re followed in order to gain the ‘better life’ we demand.”

When “Doing Good” Is a “Whitewashed Tomb”

Going even deeper than someone with Christ in his middle name (Hans Christian Andersen), it was the Christ himself who focused humanity on “whitewashed tombs” in Matthew 23:27-28:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Sometimes “doing good” may actually be a good WHAT that comes from a genuinely good WHY, but it is “not enough” because it lives alongside or even masks a higher priority WHY of Profit as Purpose that is not aligned with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.

Pharisees exhibited outward “good” for seemingly “good” reasons while inwardly really pursuing power. A business can perform outward “good” for even genuinely good reasons while inwardly prioritizing the pursuit of Profit as Purpose. Both are illusions of goodness with hearts of self-interest.

We know that many leaders say, “We have several purposes, and profit is just one?” While an organization (or a person) can have “plural” priorities, it can’t have equal priorities.  The nature of something having priority is that it is prior to every other “priority” other than any priority that ranks even higher.  We explored this in more depth in post #172 (“Priority” Problems and Solutions).

What Matthew 6:24 (“No one can serve two masters“) teaches us is that, at the end of the day, there can only be one primary WHY for the organization that will win out— other “purposes” get reduced to being “means” or “strategies.”

Of course, until the “end of the day”, the leader of an organization operating in alignment with business as usual can live the illusion that they care about “doing good” as much as they care about profit.  But the “end of the day” can come quickly.

For example, a 2023 Wall Street Journal headline revealed, “At Salesforce, It Is One Big Family Until Trouble Hits Home“.  Co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff was apparently known for using “the Hawaiian word ‘ohana,’ or familial bonds, to describe the company’s close relationship with employees and customers.”  In announcing the layoff of thousands of employees, Benioff summed up “priority” with one phrase “Ultimately, the success of the business has to be paramount.”  When push comes to shove, the real priority surfaces.

“Doing good” as a whitewashed tomb can be seen in many faith as usual Side Roads.  Faithful leader are implementing “good” practices (WHAT) for genuinely good reasons (WHY), but those practices exist in parallel with Profit as Purpose.  The heart of the organization (the real WHY) has not been transformed to align with Biblical beliefs, principles and priorities.  If profit is the end toward which a business is managed, people can never be more than tools to be manipulated and managed toward that end.

No amount of Individualizing, Monetizing, Cosmeticizing, or Monastesizing can compensate for a heart of profit that results in the toolification of God’s image-bearers. A good WHAT with a good WHY is still not enough as compared to crossing the Safety/Surrender Gap and pursuing God’s best WHY.  In the words of Oswald Chambers:

The things that are right, noble, and good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best.

Beyond “Doing Good”

“Doing Right”

In post #189 (First Things–Righteousness), we suggested various levels of “good”, as defined by the world.  They ranged from Amoral, where “doing good” means maximizing profit by any means necessary, to Social Entrepreneurship, where “doing good” means maximizing profit and pursuing an affirmative social benefit.

While Biblical principles may be evident in various of these levels of “good”, Biblical inspiration is unnecessary to pursue the desired ends. On the other hand, an organization with no faith inspiration can come closer to living-out Biblical principles than a faith-driven organization that is stuck on a Side Road and hasn’t transformed the heart of the organization.

Faithful leaders are called to a higher standard than “do good”.  They are called to “do right”. The key to understanding faithful integrity is recognizing that “doing right” needs an object–by whom are we to “do right”. A business can “do right” by its owners, its employees, its customers, its vendors, its suppliers or its community. However, there must be one ultimate “object” that wins in the case of a conflict (and business as usual says it is the owners).

We believe faithful integrity requires a faithful leader to “do right” by God, and that means living generously by loving others and stewarding creation–as the driving purpose and not just a socially conscious add-on to Profit as Purpose. It is acting to maximize flourishing (rather than profit).

The Bible is pretty clear that doing the right thing is important: “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17 ESV). But faithful integrity requires considering more than just WHAT you do. It requires also considering HOW you do it and WHY you are doing it.

Achieving sales goals by the use of fear is doing the right thing in the wrong way. Achieving sales goals by treating salespeople well is doing the right thing in the right way, but if the salespeople are treated well solely to meet the target, then they were not treated well for the right reasons. WHY matters for humans and organizations! We believe doing the right thing, in the right way and for the right reasons is actually following in the Way of Jesus.

“Doing Right” with Integrity

For an organization to exemplify faithful integrity, the organizational purpose, values and priorities that define its WHY must reflect the “wholeness” character of integrity. In the words of Rick Warren, “Integrity is uncorrupted motivation. It means you do the right thing, and you do it for the right reason.”

Integrity needs a WHY, and the WHY must be “authentic”. In other words, the organization’s WHY must be more than a pretty sign on the wall.  Authenticity can be thought of as having four components:

• Identity: The organization is clear about its WHY–its purpose, priorities and its values. That means they are written down for people to see. “And the Lord answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.‘” (Habakkuk 2:2)

• Sincerity: The WHY of the organization that is written down is actually the WHY to which its leaders are committed. An organization that has an eloquent mission statement declaring its WHY as “to glorify God” lacks sincerity (which means it lacks integrity) if it is actually operated on the basis of Profit as Purpose.

• Consistency: The organization operates consistently in accordance with its WHY. Purpose, values and priorities are not just for when they are convenient–they are most important exactly when they are most inconvenient. This is easier when things are going well and much more difficult when times are tough. Seth Godin has astutely noted: “When we make a ‘just this once’ exception, we’ve already made a decision about what’s truly important. . . . What makes it a principle is that we do it now, even though (especially though) it’s hard.”

• Transparency: The organization is clear and open about its WHY–what it wants to achieve and for what it stands. The organization’s WHY should be understood by its owners, employees, customers, vendors and community. They should understand it not only because they can read it, but also because they can see it. It’s WHY is not just declared in a sign on the wall–it is reflected in the heart of the organization.

The RENEW step if Integriosity^® requires a faithful leader to open their eyes to the importance of transforming the heart of an organization–its WHY–by putting profit in its proper place as a necessary means rather than the “end”. It also requires recognizing how the “good” Side Roads of faith as usual can keep the leader, the organization and its people from God’s best. The RE-IMAGINE step is an opportunity to imagine what an organization would look like if its real heart was aligned with God’s heart. In the RE-ALIGN step, a faithful leader gets to cultivate an authentic culture of faithful integrity in which people do the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons, without even thniking. Finally, the RENEW step brings the fruit of Biblical flourishing–people Humanized, the world Beautified and God Glorified.

“Doing right” with integrity–what we called the pursuit of faithful integrity through business a better way toward Biblical flourishing–puts the clothes back on the emperor and aligns the inside of the tomb with its whitewashed exterior.

PERSONAL NOTE (from PM):  Thanks go out to Kyle Westaway for highlighting the Fast Company article in his Weekend Briefing blog Issue No. 604.  It was the inspiration for this post.

It is challenging to tell faithful leaders who are “doing good” that it is not enough.  It is particularly challenging when they see that they are doing so much more “good” than most of the world. It is even more challenging when the beneficiaries of their “good” and their faith community are cheering them on. The problem is that “good” is the world’s scale and even the religious scale, but “right” is God’s scale. “Right” means aligning with God’s way of doing business and working and changing the organizations heart.  It is a different scale. It is a scale that requires dramatic “mind-shifts”.  It is scale that requires moving from the safety of business a usual and even faith as usual to the surrender of business a better way.

ESSENCE: Faithful integrity is more than “doing good”.  In fact, “doing good” is not enough for a faithful leader.  It is not enough because “doing good” is always a WHAT. God also cares about HOW and WHEN, but God particularly cares about WHY.  Sometimes “doing good” is not enough because it has no substance.  Just as the emperor in the fairy tale didn’t really have any clothes, an organization “doing good” may not really be about “doing good”. The phenomenon of “doing good” having no clothes is captured by the phrase “doing well by doing good.” “Doing good” because of enlightened self-interest “goes bad” when it (the WHAT) no longer works or is no longer needed to serve “doing well” (the WHY). The idea of “doing well by doing good” also creeps into the “doing good” actions of faithful leaders when they get detoured onto the faith as usual Side Road we call Prosperitizing. Sometimes “doing good” may actually be a good WHAT that comes from a genuinely good WHY, but it is “not enough” because it lives alongside or even masks a higher priority WHY of Profit as Purpose.  No amount of faith as usual can compensate for a heart of profit that results in the toolification of God’s image-bearers. Faithful leaders are called to a higher standard than “do good”.  They are called to “do right” by God, and that means authentically living generously by loving others and stewarding creation–as the driving purpose and not just a socially conscious or faith as usual add-on to Profit as Purpose.

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