In a podcast last week, I was asked how actually to manage corruption.
Some mega-MNCs may be able to bat away corrupt intent or requests using leverage, ministerial-level connections, and sheer economic heft. But the rest of us (90% of the global economy ) must be more creative. Here are a few ideas for starters:
🚦 Avoid - Physical, strategic, or technical avoidance work. Is there another route (physical or to market)? Another official, maybe in another office, who might be more amenable? Can you avoid extortive requests by timely and impeccably correct submissions (capricious corrupt types prey on urgency and inaccuracy)?
🚦 Resist - Is stalling an option? Corruption is illegal in most places. If you politely but compellingly refuse, citing approvals, red tape, or act confused (loudly), you might become a too-hard-a-target. Be careful here. If the officials use threats, coercion, sextortion and all the other horrors, don’t expect or ask your people to preserve your books & records at the expense of their wellbeing.
🚦 Disincentivise - Consider why the other party is making the corrupt demand. Is it borne of financial necessity (e.g., the official on $250 a month in a country with 40% inflation)? Is it opportunism? The conversation that follows the diagnosis of motive is important. I’ve seen underpaid customs officers placated by a 1hr respite in an air-conditioned port operator’s canteen, just as I’ve witnessed a religious elder dismantle a rogue police officer’s moral argument for extortion.
🚦 Transfer - Why are you managing this interaction? Could someone else do it ethically? Paying an agent is seldom the answer - we can’t pass bribery risks on. But you can structure agreements and deals such that pesky licenses, approvals, access requests (and the rest) are handled by a local counterparty aligned with the would-be corruptors.
🚦 Escalate - When all else fails (or if you have ethically-minded allies in government), raise the concern. Beware retaliation here. But remember that overt corruption is increasingly unpalatable, even for despots. Younger generations, cursed with impaired infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other services are moving against corrupt elites.
Whatever strategy you choose, make sure you’re considering the second-order consequences. Planning prevents poor performance.
Coffin confessor
I learned this week of a new profession (courtesy of Vice), the “coffin confessor.” For a pricey AUD 10,000, Bill Edgar will crash a funeral and say what the deceased couldn’t or wouldn’t. For example, Graham, who had terminal cancer, discovered that his “best mate” was trying to seduce his wife. At the funeral, Edgar announced, “Mate, sit down, Graham in the coffin’s got something to say.” The erstwhile best friend legged it.
That got me thinking…
What if there was an employer equivalent? Even if we don’t act on it, might there be catharsis in writing the farewell speech you dream of?
If the expunging of hurts and injustices isn’t enough solace (as you still have to work there), might it be instructive? Could you identify the biggest pain point(s)?
Armed with more clarity, it makes coping, planning, or avoiding much easier. Worth a shot?