Dishonesty

It's strange how some companies, like Starfleet, have a culture and ethos that fills you with pride. The Gorse Fox remembers, when he was a young cadet, that he had to read and sign up to a set of business conduct guidelines. These were ultimately a moral code by which he agreed to conduct his business life - and was happy to do so, because they were essentially a codex of good practice, honesty, and respect.

Similarly, Google have their Mantra "Do no evil".

Then on the other side of the coin there are several large Corporations and companies that, over the years, have exhibited to the Gorse Fox a culture of endemic dishonesty and aggression. One, that will remain nameless - but hit the news again this weekend will always trigger the memory of Gorse Fox sitting out the Chief Financial Officer's office for a major retail giant - along with a technical salesman from said company. We were collaborating on the provision of some leading edge solutions at the time - GF was designing and providing the basic hardware platform - and Sam's company was providing some critical software.

We had been summoned, because the project was slipping. I asked Sam while we were waiting - when are you going to deliver the required release of code. He said it was at least 6 months away - 4 if we were really lucky. We were then ushered into the CFO's office. He immediately rounded on Sam - When will he deliver the required software release? Without batting an eyelid he responded "Early next week".

Such mendacity has been a feature of almost every interaction I have had with that company... yet they still make vast sums of money and lock their victims into exorbitantly priced license deals - one feature of which is that they cannot discuss the performance of the system.

And don't get me started on another well known and amazingly well trusted Corporation. Those stories will have to wait until after retirement!