Integrity
Integrity - According to Charles Osgood of CBS Sunday Morning , this word is the most looked-up word online (per Merriam Webster).
I find that very very interesting.
Are there many people who don't know how to spell it? It's pretty ease to 'sound it out'.
Do we not know what it means? That would be amazing, and not a little disturbing.
Perhaps the look-uppers are journalists, students, & commentators who find so little of it around in the world today that they...what?
Why are we looking up this word, Integrity?
btw: The meaning of the word is
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS
synonym see HONESTY
FIRM adherence, not just--well, I'll try...
ESPECIALLY moral or artistic, not just--mediocre, not just like the guy next door...
VALUES--to me, these aren't things that just 'happen' to us. Values require thought and committment and an understanding of who one is, or who one aspires to be.
SOUNDNESS--an incredibly rich word--stable, solid, free from error...
You can see that this is no garden-variety word.
I believe that we didn't (have to) think of it very often in the 'old days'. People of integrity were, perhaps, in the majority. I cite the evidence of the number and kind of things we left unlocked back then: homes, cars, places of worship; and the value of handshakes and promises. I can't remember that integrity was a topic of conversation or concern very often.
These days home security is HUGE business, handshakes & promises have been replaced with legal documents, and police (and their equivalents) and lawyers reign. Integrity, or its lack, is in the news all the time. Politicians, investment specialists, and car salesmen try to convince us they have it while journalists just keep uncovering more and more corruption.
I know of an accountant in New York who is contemplating giving up her professional practice because her clients, more & more, come to her for ways to cut corners, 'fudge' the system, and get away with it. It seems that people don't really recognize that what they are asking is wrong or unethical. And they don't realize that they are asking her to be an accomplice in their unethical schemes.
I just completed an small accounting class with a classmate who asked the most amazing questions and seemed to be unembarrassed by her desire to ...
I don't really know what her desires are.
I know what they sounded like to me, and I would never have spoken those things out loud even if I had thought them.
And I've got to tell you, I want to keep as much of my money away from the tax people as I can. How I go about doing that is very important to me, though.
So what are your thoughts on the subject of integrity?
How long has it been since you considered what you value, and what that means in your life?
Are you satisfied? Do you model integrity? Are you working on your 'wings', or working the system?
Let me hear from you on this one; it's important.
posted by Kate Winner @ 8:58 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hi, Terry.
Our Sunday morning ritual starts with that trumpet fanfare and a big cup of coffee. Just hate to miss it even when they are showing reruns.
Sometimes I miss 'the old days' and other times I just figure that what I see on a day to day basis is just the nature of a population that has exploded to such a size so quickly.
Maybe there really still is integrity - maybe the behaviors that we see as symptomatic are still in proportion. With 6 billion people on the planet, we're just bound to see more creeps than we used to...? aren't we?
What do you think?
IN TE GRITY - wondering when grity is integrated, Integrity will be reflected.
Perhaps as we witness more and more of our "leaders" being held accountable for their unethical schemes, the pendulum will swing back to more balance and this society will once again reflect high moral standards.
The word "Integer" for you Kate comes through - (whole numbers) -
perhaps a sign for your office - "Integers Only Allowed" !!
Integrity is more about wholeness and holiness in my humble opinion. The churches having to be locked are a metaphor for society locking themselves out of their own temple.
I started to write that you got me percolating when I first read your blog this morning - seems like you women do that to me - it's a Folger's filter affect - then I glanced over to the right of your column and saw Swami and read part of his remark, "bubbles up from that well."
Now I just scrolled down to your Limbo post - wow - where have I been? Oh- I've been at my office working. I have an angel on my front door -it's really pretty. An older woman who works there sometimes just had to share that the picture was a little crooked and it was driving her nuts so she had to retape it to make it perfectly straight. Mmmm - reminds me of a secretary I used to work with that would never allow any paper work left on my desk - I would leave to help in the health room and when I came back to finish up - everything had disappeared. She could not tolerate papers of any kind on any desk. I thought I was going crazy as stuff started to disappear - until I figured out she was obsessive/compulsive. Then a few weeks ago I had a new tenant rent the office next to mine. When I went to introduce myself and shake his hand, the first words out of his mouth were, "I don't believe in New Age stuff, I was going to be a doctor and I'm very conservative." :-)
I wonder if the word "Love" is considered New Age?
I agree the wings take a beating, and often don't want to open up. I'm thinking there are just too many half-numbers walking around.
So Kate, I AM counting on your accounting talents to "Integer" us back to the Wellspring for bubbling up!
And when those dragons roar you do have the answer - OMG.........
OM God!
Thanks for the pendulum reminder. While I claim to be a 'big picture' person, I sometimes see snapshots instead of movies. Makes a BIG difference.
...and for the new mantra for this period of time... "Om God" will work very nicely for me in the next few weeks.
Thank you, Kristie
Hi Kate,
It's funny (not in a haha way) the reaction that I get from corporate folks when I use the term. They always stop me and ask me what it means. The good stuff comes in the weeks and months ahead when the word (with meaning!) has become part of their normal vocab. You should hear the rants I get then about all the lack of integrity they see! That's part of what keeps me in coaching. Feels like I'm part of a subversive movement infiltrating institutions with integrity.
I found this post very interesting. I had no idea it was such a huge issue as you have pointed out. I mean, I knew it was, but didn't realize that it was an overtly huge issue. Thanks for putting this out there!
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