“Do the right thing” comes to mind. “What would your grandmother think?” has a certain ring to it. But Jay Shepherd wins the prize for the world’s shortest (and most effective) blogging policy: Be professional. Jay has written more than two words on the subject and every one of them are well worth reading on his excellent site, Gruntled Employees.
The World's Shortest Blogging Policy
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What a great idea. Speak to people in simple English. Show them the respect that you show your friends, family and “peers” at work by assuming that they understand the essence of being a grown up in America. Speak to them naturally, and I bet that they will act naturally well.
In the right culture, this absolutely makes sense. In others, I could imagine that relying too heavily on personal judgment might be a mistake, in that you could lose some ability to recover losses caused by unprofessional (but not explicitly prohibited behavior).
Can steps like this help migrate a culture toward one that behaves professionally? In that case, it may be worth it!
Speak naturally, act naturally. That could be a slogan!
Charlie, you’re right. I’m a fan of “Do the right thing,” and I believe that policy can never be encompassing enough to get all the watch-outs! I like the /. karma approach — earn your way in.