Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Becomes Alphabet’s ‘Do the Right Thing’
blogs.wsj.com
blogs.wsj.com
"Don't Be Evil" appeals to a force above the law, sometimes the law is evil (Nazi Germany).
"Do the right thing," implies there is a single right thing which is woefully out of touch with the vast array of choices we have each day that fall all along the moral spectrum. It's cliche; I have trouble not immediately writing it off.
"Do the right thing" falls under ethics.
'Do the right thing,' with its legal implications, almost sounds like, 'we told you to do the right thing, so if you're in trouble, it's your ass on the line.'
When we hear "Don't Be Evil" there is a part of our brains that interprets the part about being evil, the concept of what evil is, and then the logic brain has to jump in and say, "Now don't you do that." It's well known that telling people to "Not smoke" again and again will give them the urge to smoke. And telling your child to not do something will make them want to do it. Why? We believe it's because on an MRI scan most of the brain will light up when interpreting the "Smoke" part (because the brain is conceptualizing what smoking is), whereas only a small part of the brain will light up when trying to apply the negation "Don't" to that concept. If I told you to not picture a white bear....aha, you pictured a white bear!
If you want someone to do something, simply keep telling them not to do it.
Action will always prevail.
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/googles-new-holding-company-drop...
It's kind of depressing that companies feel they need to put this in their code of conduct.
I actually hope the latter part is to be seen as examples of the spirit of the first part rather than a definition. Where a company of grand designs and power, like Alphabet, is concerned there may easily come times when a the version needed would read more like “follow the law, unless the law codifies immoral action”
You have to put the title of the article in Google and click on it there.
Alphabet’s code doesn’t include that phrase. Instead, it says employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries “should do the right thing – follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.”
Edit: Fuller quote:
Google’s code of conduct, of course, is best-known for its first line, which was also included in Google’s 2004 filing for its initial public offering: “Don’t be evil.”
Alphabet’s code doesn’t include that phrase. Instead, it says employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries “should do the right thing – follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.”