Hello Lou,

You asked what you “should have done.” I can’t answer that, but I can tell you what I would have done as a contractor in this order:

1. I would have slept on it and calmed down.
2. Stopped everything and scheduled a brief private person-to-person meeting with the person who told me, “they didn’t really want to make it easy for veterans” [His dilemma:  It appeared that his client asked him to go against his better judgment and avoid making a website as usable as possible for the intended web site visitors, who happened to be U.S. military veterans. ]
3. In that meeting, I would fully support this person and want to hear this person’s full story. I would start by asking for clarification because it really seemed to me that I must have misunderstood. Adding that it seemed to go against all my training and I wanted to make sure they weren’t asking me to do something illegal or professionally inappropriate. I would leave a wide girth for that person to change their stance or blame someone else for the policy (just following orders). If they change their mind, GREAT – move ahead with new direction.
4. If they blame someone else, I can choose to expand my scope of the project and:
   1. Ask them how they feel about the policy they have to enforce. If they feel good about it, put on my business analysis cap and ask a lot of questions to dig up whether there is another way (of course there is always another way) to address the true business problem that this policy is trying to address. (Remember that when people oppress or feel oppressed, both feel they are victims of a system in which they are caught not knowing how to change.) So, in essence, I look for ways to make this person a hero by finding a win-win business solution.
   2. Ask them who is responsible for the policy and what it would take for me to get a private meeting with that person to ask for clarification (basically move up the command chain til I get someone willing to take responsibility for the policy), so I can move forward with the project. I would do this knowing full well that I might get fired for the inquiry. Again, my query is personal. I want to know that in fact they were NOT asking me to do something illegal or professionally inappropriate, so I can proceed with my work.

These meetings in themselves are awareness-raising for the people I meet with. I meet them as a peer professional for the sole purpose of making my OWN ethical decision. I am not there to whistle-blow or put people on the spot. The fact that I even need to ask these questions is going to make most feel itchy. That’s good. I’ve done my job well. Usability in general makes some people itchy. Especially people who like to control things from their own viewpoint. So, you see, I imagine that it is my job to help people see things differently. Not change them. Just help them see things differently.

So after these 1-3 meetings, I continue working on the project and wait to make my ethical decision… Sometimes after a few days or a week, the way magically opens after people have gotten itchy and they do what they can to move the itch or make it go away.

IF things don’t change and its really clear to me that the Agency is indeed asking me to do something that I feel is professionally inappropriate, I will state this plainly and matter of factly and give my notice, with a bill and deliverables completed so far. No fan fare. I don’t need to embarrass people, who I know see themselves as innocent. I only need to help people see things differently, because that’s the nature of my job.

There is plenty of work out there that doesn’t require me to be inappropriate. Letting go of a mismatched job just opens the way for something better.

In case you’re wondering, have I been in such a situation? Yes. Not the same details, but there was a similar need to help the client see another way to meet their goals that was more ethical or more legal. Have I been fired for it? Not yet. So far, they are REALLY GRATEFUL for this adviser-ly approach.

I think God/the Universe/Great Mystery offers these ideas to people who can pull them off. Then if that person resists rising to the opportunity, the idea looks for someone who is more receptive.

On the day a wild idea came to you which you had no resources to implement, it seems to me that you were wide open. And maybe it came to you because someone was being a bit resistant. I also think ideas stir up their own momentum and maybe that was what happened. It got you so excited that you had to talk about it.

I get other people’s wandering ideas all the time. They come to me and I know right away this is for someone else, but I’m supposed to do something to give it more energy. Help it along. Then I just talk about it or pass it on to someone who might be able to do something with it.

Eventually word gets back to the people who are resisting and they either get off their duff and do it or they piss and moan about other people having the same idea.

The truth it seems to me is that none of us really owns an idea.

It has got a life of its own, all we do is hatch them or give them more energy until they are realized.

The Reset Button in Business

Lastly, I love the concept of the Reset Button. To me this is akin to the “Do-Over” often shouted on the playground.

The reset brings things back to relative equilibrium after a state of rest. This restores order and creates a sense of peace.

What are the ways you and your team reset your business?

• Housekeeping
• Team meetings
• Team celebrations
• Pay checks
• Opening and closing regularly
• Operating seasonally

There are many ways to reset. What are yours? How does your business rest and reflect to go at it anew?