Reference Library

ETHICS
Yours, Mine, or Ours?
By Larry Jones

One of the interesting things about being a new breeder is all the stuff you learn. Some good, some not so good.

An example of the later is the recording of calf birth dates to place an animal in a favorable spot in a show class. Ignorant beginner that I am, I assumed Mother Nature and the breeding date took care of that. I didn't know any better until I had a calf born on December 24th that I thought might have show potential.

I was soon informed that some breeders were actively assisting Mother Nature, and that if I expected to compete against their animals I'd have to become a "helper" too. In other words, I'd have to lie.

When I asked how people justified that I learned that the 24th is '0 close to the 1st that it "really doesn't matter". Another interesting twist was put on it when it was brought out that if I had just stayed away from the ranch that week I'd never have known the true date anyway. Kind of a "when in doubt make the most of it" approach.

Now, since I'm a little slow and real hard headed, I started asking about it at various association meetings and auctions. Several people shared opinions that there were, in fact, people doing it. A few went so far as to mention names. The range of attitudes went from indignation to "we are trying to stop it" to "how else can you compete"?

Well, I'm sorry, but I can't do it. My calf will have to be registered with a December 24th birth date, and if I lose, so be it. I'd rather lose than be a winning cheat. I suspect I'd forget a loss, but I would never forget what l'd become.

Many people see ethics issues in shades of gray v/s black and white. While this is certainly a function of one's personal values system, my experience indicates it also has to do with inconsistent standards to measure various situations against. One of the most effective tools I've seen, and one we have used extensively and formally in business for years, is contained in a hook written by Dr. Ken Blanchard and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

Their book is called The POWER OF ETHICAL MANAGEMENT. It is short, simple and in easy to read parable form, and I recommend it to everyone. The bottom line is their Ethics Check List. For those of you who don't read the book I'll share a version of it here:

1) Is it legal?

Law of the land

Company policy

TLBA rules

2) Is it balanced?

Equally Fair to all parties

3) How does it make you feel?

If published in newspaper

If family and friends know

If printed in Trails

Functionally, you apply the checklist from top to bottom. If you get a yes to #1, you go on to #2. I've found that even if you get a yes to both #1 and #2, the gut reaction in #3 may tell you it still doesn't sell.

Try applying the checklist to the experience with my calf. To me it clearly fails on all three counts. What bothers me is that it may not fail with people who falsify birth dates.

Perhaps this is an example of those declining American values we hear about. It is not particularly something this new breeder wanted to learn, and it is definitely not one of the good things.