Organisational Integrity: Spirituality in Organisations

Good people can do bad things when they are part of a bad organisation. Conversely, people who may not be good can do good things when they are part of a good organisation. Therefore, simply recruiting good people into an organisation is not enough. People are only one of the pillars of an organisation. A good organisation can only exist when integrity shapes all four organisational pillars: the 2S2P Organisational Anatomy

Integrity is a positive term referring to the character of someone who firmly holds to their beliefs and remains consistent. What do they think? What do they say? What do they do? These three should always be consistent. The word belief refers to the substance of a person’s thinking. That substance may be rooted in the spirituality within each individual. A person’s spirituality shapes their mindset. It is this mindset that gives meaning to and designs the organisation’s strategy, structure, and interaction processes. This mindset forms the foundation of how someone thinks strategically; how people are grouped to work together; how hierarchies, authority, procedures, rules, performance appraisal systems, salary systems, leadership styles, decision-making processes, interactions, and organisational culture are designed. When everyone agrees with the mindset reflected in the organisation’s strategy, structure, and processes, people will describe the organisation as ethical. An organisation that upholds ethics in its strategy, structure, and processes is what we call organisational integrity.

Building organisational integrity is extremely difficult amid disruptive business competition. Super-dynamic competitive environments demand flexibility, speed, agility, and intelligence in strategy, structure, and processes. Perhaps you may ask: Can flexibility, speed, agility, and intelligence remain consistent with the spirituality upheld within the organisation? If the answer is yes, organisational integrity remains alive within the organisation. If not, organisational integrity begins to fade.

When an organisation is inconsistent in maintaining its spirituality, organisational integrity eventually becomes reduced to the spirituality of each individual—individual spirituality—rather than true organisational integrity. Everyone becomes busy developing their own spirituality. Everyone feels that they have integrity. Everyone becomes busy judging others whom they consider to lack integrity. Everyone feels satisfied with themselves because they believe they have more integrity than others. Everyone becomes busy discussing integrity simply for personal satisfaction. If this is not recognised, people who consider themselves to have integrity may subjectively believe that the strategies they launch, the structures they build, and the interactions they create through their leadership processes are automatically built on integrity. But is that really true?

There is a saying: no matter how good an apple is when it is picked, if it is placed in a rotten basket, eventually it too will become rotten.

The apple represents individual spirituality, while the basket represents strategy, structure, and processes. Individual spirituality must be able to shape strategy, strengthen the structure, and become the foundation for how people lead and interact with one another. So, does organisational integrity truly exist in your business?

Let us map organisations into four quadrants to understand how far an organisation can adapt to changes in the business environment. In other words, remain competitive while still maintaining integrity. The X-axis represents individual spirituality, while the Y-axis represents regulation.

Perhaps you may ask: Why is Quadrant 4 called Organisational Integrity? Imagine an organisation in Quadrant 4. The organisation remains competitive with minimal rules to guide people who already possess integrity in formulating strategy, managing organisational structures, and practising leadership. Now compare this with Quadrant 3: Organisational Distrust. Here, the organisation remains competitive by tightening rules around people who already have integrity because the organisation does not fully trust them. People with integrity possess strong self-control from within, rather than depending primarily on rules. When rules become excessively strict, there is a concern that a good apple may eventually become rotten because the basket itself is rotten.

So, which quadrant is your organisation in? Perhaps you may also ask: If an organisation already possesses organisational integrity, will it always be perceived as ethical by other organisations or by its stakeholders?

Have a good day!

Greetings of Transformation