The harpies according to that source-of-all-knowledge, wikipedia, in Greek mythology, were nasty creatures with the bodies of birds and women's heads. They snatched food from those the gods wanted to punish, befouled the rest (I guess the Greeks were too cultured to say 'pooped on').
Somehow, a scolding woman came to be called a harpy and someone who just won't shut up about something is said to be harping on the subject. I have found myself harping on one topic a lot lately, and I do believe it is directly a result of Erich's course on ethics for managers. That is, there is no excuse for doing something you know damn well is wrong. I am sick and tired of those people who say,
"It's not all as simple as that. Not everything is black and white."
Not it isn't ALL as simple as that, but some of it is. If you are a student doing a group project and are asked to give your fellow students an evaluation, you may rate one student fairly high even though she did very little work. You may explain it away because she had a sick child and could not do her share, or that the poor evaluation would bring her grade down and she would lose her financial aid. All of those reasons show some generosity and they may be wrong but the other person could argue their point of view was right. No, I am talking about the situation when you are sitting in class and the crazy teacher picks up a stapler and smacks the student next to you in the head causing severe brain injury. That kind of right versus wrong. The right thing is to call 911, report it to the dean and file a police report. Yet, how many people "don't want to get involved". We even find the relatives of the crazy stapler-wielder saying things like, "Well, she should have known better than to take a class from a crazy person anyway,"
and
"You'd think somebody that age would move faster when a crazy person with a stapler attacked them. Maybe she already had brain damage to begin with."
Sound silly? Today, I was talking to someone about a board of directors that had spent $150,000 that year on travel and entertainment for themselves and their chief executive officer. A friend of mine had gone to the last fundraiser that board had held. When I said he was condoning their behavior, someone else interjected and said,
I said,
"Yes, he does. Everybody has a choice. You choose not to put a price on your integrity. You can make up excuses all day long but the fact is that he KNOWS what the board did was wrong. He KNEW they took money out of their budget that was supposed to be for programs and spent it on themselves, and not just a little money, but a lot, and the people they were supposed to serve suffered for it. He knew it was wrong, he went along with it and showed up to support them."
One of my mentors, in graduate school, Dr. Jane Mercer, spoke out about the bias in intelligence tests long before it was socially acceptable to do so. She was attacked on many fronts as a scholar, as too emotional (kind of a veiled slant on wome in science). One of the arguments proposed that she "be reasonable" pointed out the large amount of money that had been invested in intelligence testing. She had an old Turkish proverb typed out and taped over her desk.
"No matter how far you've gone down a wrong road. Turn back."
It really is that simple. When you know the right path to take, go down it.
Somehow, a scolding woman came to be called a harpy and someone who just won't shut up about something is said to be harping on the subject. I have found myself harping on one topic a lot lately, and I do believe it is directly a result of Erich's course on ethics for managers. That is, there is no excuse for doing something you know damn well is wrong. I am sick and tired of those people who say,
"It's not all as simple as that. Not everything is black and white."
Not it isn't ALL as simple as that, but some of it is. If you are a student doing a group project and are asked to give your fellow students an evaluation, you may rate one student fairly high even though she did very little work. You may explain it away because she had a sick child and could not do her share, or that the poor evaluation would bring her grade down and she would lose her financial aid. All of those reasons show some generosity and they may be wrong but the other person could argue their point of view was right. No, I am talking about the situation when you are sitting in class and the crazy teacher picks up a stapler and smacks the student next to you in the head causing severe brain injury. That kind of right versus wrong. The right thing is to call 911, report it to the dean and file a police report. Yet, how many people "don't want to get involved". We even find the relatives of the crazy stapler-wielder saying things like, "Well, she should have known better than to take a class from a crazy person anyway,"
and
"You'd think somebody that age would move faster when a crazy person with a stapler attacked them. Maybe she already had brain damage to begin with."
Sound silly? Today, I was talking to someone about a board of directors that had spent $150,000 that year on travel and entertainment for themselves and their chief executive officer. A friend of mine had gone to the last fundraiser that board had held. When I said he was condoning their behavior, someone else interjected and said,
"It isn't that simple. He's been involved with them for a long time. They weren't always that bad. If he wants to keep his position, which is pretty high up, he really doesn't have a choice."
I said,
"Yes, he does. Everybody has a choice. You choose not to put a price on your integrity. You can make up excuses all day long but the fact is that he KNOWS what the board did was wrong. He KNEW they took money out of their budget that was supposed to be for programs and spent it on themselves, and not just a little money, but a lot, and the people they were supposed to serve suffered for it. He knew it was wrong, he went along with it and showed up to support them."
One of my mentors, in graduate school, Dr. Jane Mercer, spoke out about the bias in intelligence tests long before it was socially acceptable to do so. She was attacked on many fronts as a scholar, as too emotional (kind of a veiled slant on wome in science). One of the arguments proposed that she "be reasonable" pointed out the large amount of money that had been invested in intelligence testing. She had an old Turkish proverb typed out and taped over her desk.
"No matter how far you've gone down a wrong road. Turn back."
It really is that simple. When you know the right path to take, go down it.
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