Integrity
Integrity is usually discussed as an absence of scandal, which means most companies never recognise a single instance of it.
The definition includes the absence of an observer
Doing the right thing while somebody is watching is compliance. It is fine, and it is not this.
Integrity is the correction to a number in your own favour that nobody was ever going to check, and the honest answer given to a customer who had already signed.
It happens in ordinary weeks
Companies talk about integrity after something has gone wrong, which means the word only ever appears attached to a failure.
The version worth recognising is small, weekly and cheap to ignore, and the people doing it currently assume nobody has noticed.
How you would know
- Keeps the commitment nobody remembers
Honours something agreed months ago that the other party has forgotten.
- Reports the inconvenient result
Shares data that undermines their own project.
- Declines the easy win
Turns down business, a metric or a shortcut that would have looked good.
- Corrects the record
Fixes a number or a claim that was in their own favour.
6 messages that name it
You told the customer the feature was not ready when they had already signed. That is the whole value in one sentence.
ManagerOne act, no elaboration needed.
Thank you for reporting the result that undermined your own project.
ManagerNames the specific cost to the sender’s own work.
You honoured a commitment from March that the other team had entirely forgotten about.
PeerThe forgetting is what makes it integrity.
Sofia corrected a number that was in her favour. Nobody was ever going to check it.
ManagerThe last clause carries the message.
Thanks for turning down the deal that would have made this quarter and churned in the next one.
ManagerFrames restraint as a real decision.
You gave the same answer to the customer that you gave to us internally.
PeerDeceptively simple and rarely true.
What its absence looks like
Where integrity is only discussed after failures, the ordinary version never gets named, and the people quietly doing the costly right thing assume nobody noticed.
Recognising it well
Recognise it in an ordinary week. A value only discussed after a scandal is a compliance topic rather than a value.
Name the cheaper option that was available. Integrity is only visible against the alternative that was not taken.
Include “nobody was going to check”. It is the clause that separates this from following a rule.
Questions people ask
- What does integrity mean as a company value?
Doing the correct thing when a cheaper option exists and nobody is verifying. The absence of an observer is the definition; behaviour under supervision is compliance.
- How do you recognise integrity at work?
Name the alternative that was available. A costly right decision only reads as one when the cheap version is stated alongside it.
- Why do companies rarely recognise integrity?
Because they only discuss it after something has gone wrong. Treated as a scandal-prevention topic, it never gets attached to the ordinary weekly decisions where it actually happens.
- What is the clearest example of integrity at work?
Giving the customer the same answer you gave internally. It sounds trivial, it is checkable, and it is untrue more often than most companies would like to think.
Occasions where it shows up
Related values
Only pay for active users who use Evergreen
Lots of support, with a help center and direct email options
Cancel at any time, so why not give us a try
Start feeling good about work
For only $3.99 per active user a month. In the 14 day free trial we don’t plant real trees, but you can skip the trial if you like.
No credit card needed • No setup costs
