Someone is on the ball at HQ.  Not only is THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’s David Kesmodel reporting that John Mackey has made a formal apology, Whole Foods has announced an internal investigation into RahodebGate.  I hope it goes farther than ethics training for the executive team.

Last night, a local radio talk show was addressing the question of whether to include anti-racism courses in elementary school curricula.  This is the same issue as to whether ethics courses should be included in MBA programs.  Many experts believe that these are necessary steps.

It would be great if we could still grow up learning, from every corner of our culture and most especially in the home, that some things are right and some are wrong.  What we have instead is  some sort of unconscious acculturation around lower standards, as long as money’s being made or foes are defeated. 

Something is making it OK for us to call each other names.  And something is making it OK for executives to cross the line.  It’s not a conspiracy, which means it might actually be organic — which makes it scarier.  Something is making coarseness not only OK but acceptable.

I’ve heard Ivy League MBAs argue that the CEO’s only job is to increase shareholder value — and if he or she does that, the CEO should be practically untouchable.  While these universities probably are not going out of their way to promote ruthlessness, a kind of combustion seems to occur in their halls that cultivates this side of human nature.  Maybe it’s the fact that the graduates go on to join the Power Elite — learning to play by the established rules in order to get some of that power, then endowing their academic institutions with the resulting lucre.

This is why incest is illegal in most states.  The bloodlines are getting pretty thin in business these days.  For many, it is all about preserving their hegemony at any cost.  Fewer and fewer members of the inner circle are willing to ask questions.  Since humans like their tribes,  the Power Elite is no different — even when, like Mr Mackey, they protest too much that they live outside the system.

As long as this kind of thinking dominates how we define value, episodes like Mackey’s will continue to emerge from the shadows of American business competition.  At this point, I’ve come to believe that the only way to stop it is to punish it.  And to work for the day that more companies find ways to grow, compete and profit without resorting to or enabling ruthless, narcissistic, elitist behavior.

I’m glad Mr Mackey apologized.  And I hope that the internal investigation helps to identify the root causes of his behavior and whether they’ve been fertilized by the rest of the company and its board. 

I also hope that every executive team in the country pays attention.  We don’t need another episode to demonstrate the importance of speaking truth to power and encouraging the diversity of thinking, as well as of executive bloodlines, that fosters fairness in the way American business is done.  I know from personal experience that this type of healthy, collaborative challenge helps us to adjust our thinking and correct our mistakes before anyone else has to suffer.

This post is helpful not just for startups but for a great many companies questioning their marketing spend.  The link includes comments, including one from yours truly.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL just reported that the SEC is launching an informal investigation into this week’s most duplicitous CEO.  It’s a good sign, even though the legal codes associated with this type of offense are tough to enforce.

At least we get the satisfaction of knowing that someone is paying attention.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL just distributed an interesting yet disturbing news alert.  It seems that Whole Foods’ CEO posted comments about his company and competitors on Yahoo’s stock forums for the past eight years.  Under a pseudonym.

This is just plain dirty. 

I admit that despite my time in the trenches, I tend to be naive about things like honor and sportsmanship.  But this really grates, especially since THE NEW YORK TIMES made this guy sound like such an example for the rest of us.  He was even quoted as saying, "love is the only reality."  I’d like a copy of the dictionary this guy is using.

Furthermore.  Now we not only have the question of how much content in speeches and blogs is actually conceived by executives, we find out we have one high-profile guy who spends his time on message boards trashing the competition.  This kills me.  A lot of these so-called leaders leave it to inexperienced minions or conniving PR agencies to draft content that they then get up and read or publish in a blog.  Now we have one who has the time to horse around on message boards.  In my book, this is gaming the system.  And I hope he broke some law.  And I hope the Big They enforce it.

Meanwhile, I had gotten tired of Whole Foods anyway, after a brief return last fall.  Between the precious prices and the patronizing messages, I figured that other folks could pay for the limousines.  Whole Paycheck indeed.  Yet again, we have a guy who makes up his own rules while pontificating about what the rest of us should be doing, including the US Government.  I’ll buy my fancy chocolate elsewhere, folks.

I don’t like to get personal on this blog, mainly because it’s largely unnecessary.  We can find ways to address our problems and issues without resorting to trashing other people.  I want you to know this post is not random shouting, nor is it personal.  I’m just sick and tired of being lectured by people who only look in the mirror to see if their pores are too large for the camera.  People, we have to start thinking about whom we define as successful and what we are measuring.  It’s got to be more than financial prowess,  strategic voodoo and shell games.

If this turns out to be something different from what the JOURNAL is reporting, I’ll be the first to apologize.  But if the paper is right, let’s find a rule that this narcissist broke and go after him.