Myth #2: Nothing Can be Done

The second myth Johnson discusses is, It won’t do any good. "This myth comes out of widespread cynicism about organizations and stands at the opposite end of the spectrum from the first misconception. According to this perspective, change is too hard, not too easy. The individual can have little impact on the ethical climate of an organization”

Our previous section might make you believe that. After all, we just gave two examples of individuals who stood up for their ethical beliefs and lost their jobs. However, Joe The Tribal Worker does not fill all the jobs on the reservation. There are many dedicated, hardworking, honest workers in Indian Country, many who speak up against the unethical behaviors by tribal workers. We applaud the moral courage of these individuals who often lay their jobs on the line every time they speak up. They could use some help from the rest of us.

Joe the Tribal Worker, the unethical prototype in the forum that accompanies this course, has a co-worker, Susan Good Shoes, who is his exact opposite. For every Joe, we have examples of workers like Susan who are doing their best to cause ethical change on our reservations.

This particular Susan Good Shoes lived not far away from the reservation where the other school administrator lost her job. Like her now unemployed colleague, Susan had made a stand against unethical behavior. As we will discuss later in this course, one type of unethical behavior is being abusive toward your employees, co-workers or clients. In this school, a student was suspended for swearing, fighting and generally bullying both teachers and students alike. When the family complained to the school board, they took a stand and supported the administrator. The student's suspension held and the administrator kept her position. It took courage for that board and administrator to stand up to so much public pressure, but they did it. As one board member said,

"If we want our young people to grow up to be good citizens, ethical people, respecting their elders and representing their tribe in a good way, we have to enforce that behavior when they are young. We have to show them that we mean it. And we also have to be role models of that courage and standing up for what is right ourselves. We see young people everywhere who have the idea that they are entitled to act however they want and that they don't owe any obligation to make their community a better place. Where did that get those ideas? From watching us."