If your code of ethics doesn’t tell a good story, than it more than likely is just a legal document that protects you in court, but doesn’t inspire ethical behavior. Why is that? Because storytelling moves people. Conventional rhetoric does not.
That’s what screenwriter Robert McKee says in an article in the Harvard Business Review. Create a code with a bunch of lists, legal jargon, statistics, and facts; it will be forgettable. I think this even applies to those made up examples you see in a lot of codes. The example might help someone understand a difficult concept like insider trading, but it still isn’t a story. It doesn’t inspire.
So what is a story? It’s real life. The struggles we all face. Robert McKee explains it as a series that goes from life in balance, an inciting incident, the efforts and struggles to restore balance, then the triumph or the defeat. It’s human. That’s why we go see movies and feel inspired. Believe it or not, this can also happen with codes of ethics. It just requires some humility to expose some weaknesses.
Every company has struggles, hits bumps, and makes mistakes. Most companies battle to overcome these and be better. These struggles should be included in codes of ethics as real life examples. It shows the human side. It’s truthful. Most importantly it inspires.
Mr. McKee gives this example: An immigrant worker suffers an injury on a carmaker’s assembly line. The company thinks it’s a fraud and asks the insurer to investigate. Come to find out the worker is one of the best on the line and loves his work. What does the company do? They drop the claim, but say nothing. Instead they could have told the story of how the worker was falsely accused, then reward the employee for his dedication. All of sudden the worker is a hero, the company shows humility, and all are inspired.
This is a simple example, but think of the power if it were included in a code of ethics as an example of honesty. The story then become lore and the culture actually changes. So dust of your code and take a look at it. Is it a story or just conventional rhetoric.