Are you binge-watching bad behavior?

Welcome to the second installment of?The Compliance Corner Newsletter?.?In each monthly edition, I'll share ethics and compliance news, ideas, trends, book reviews, and e-learning developments as part of my Compliance Corner??e-learning series!?

If you're like me, you've been binge-watching recent shows and documentaries about bad behavior like Dope Sick, Inventing Anna, Bad Sports, The Tinder Swindler, Operation Varsity Blues, among others, and feel free to add anything I missed in the comments field ??????????.?

But you don't have to binge-watch to learn about the consequences of misconduct. If you have four minutes ?, check out this solo-episode?video , where I share my journey from "Behind the Bribe: The Sharp End of Compliance," and where my former prison card image is featured, as I share my story of 'self-surrender.'?

Why are we binge-watching bad behavior??

I think we watch these shows because we have questions and ponder ??:

Why did they do it? How did they get away with it? I would never do that.?

Yet, as recently addressed in?The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better … or Worse ?by Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine, just saying "I would never do that," can land us on the wrong side of ethical conduct. As Professor van Rooij recently shared with me, when it comes to responding to ethical dilemmas, “we are not as good as we think we are at predicting how ethically we will act, overestimating what we will do when we are in the heat of the moment when facing a true ethical issue.”

And as recent research published by Sunita Sah demonstrates, if we think as well-trained, ethical, and compliant professionals, that we are somehow fortified from misconduct and bad decisions, that confidence can have the opposite ("contrary") effect, leading to unethical, even if unintended consequences. As quoted in the?Financial Times,?Professor Sah warns us that such overconfidence can be a signal that we "may be in the ethical shallows and about to run aground." ??

Do we need to binge-watch bad behavior to understand bad behavior??

I don't think so, but get ready to weigh down your nightstand and get out your reading light! ??

There are so many wonderful books ?? that address truth, honesty, and the need to 'spark' and foster organizational cultures where candor and cross-functional communication is cherished above comfort. My top two favorites, in addition to?The Behavioral Code, include:?

Amy Edmondson's?The Fearless Organization ?and Ron Carucci's?To Be Honest .?I don't show up to my virtual, in-person, or hybrid corporate events without these two in hand. And you can see all the post-it notes ?? which populate my very well-worn copy of?The Fearless Organization!?

Still not convinced?

If you STILL love binge-watching, feel free to request an evaluation link to both of my Telly Award-Winning ?? (for corporate training and communication) e-learning series, Compliance Corner??, and the Mastercard co-produced series, both of which are about to be expanded by the addition of new vignettes and episodes ??- addressing issues covering:

?? The hiring of family members of clients to unduly influence business.?

?? How even innocent conversations about attending sporting events ?? with clients and/or suppliers can end up as inappropriate, unethical, and even illegal.

?? How sharing what might seem as non-controversial developments at your organization ?? with those outside your organization, can end up violating fair-trade, anti-trust, and insider trading laws, as well as exposing your organization to the potential theft of private data and propriety information.?

I know, that does sound like a true-crime series ??, and well, that's because it is!?

But there are two elements that you won't find in these award-winning episodes:?

1?? Comedy ??, as these issues demand our attention, not our laughs.

2?? Hypothetical scenarios, as all of these episodes, are based on real-world ?? events, with real-world lessons.

If you would like a 'sneak preview' of these new episodes and vignettes, feel free to sign up?here .

Or, you would rather opt-in for "books ?? above binging," but don't have the time to read through any or all of these books, not to worry ?? I have pdf book-reviews from my column in Compiance Week,?My Compliance Library,?of all three books mentioned here, and you are an email request away at?[email protected] ?from getting any one of them, or all three if you would like!?

Thank you for joining me for the Second Edition of Compliance Corner??, and if there's anything top-of-mind that you would like to see addressed next month, free free to comment below, send a note, or just give a shout ?? out!?