Unedited 7/8/09 |
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Willing Fools
A willing fool is a person who wants to be persuaded, seduced, or guided into making an important business decision that acts against the interest of a business or agency he or she works for. In return for their lack of discretion the person, usually and employee, enjoys certain rewards, social nectars, promotional opportunities, or outright cash. For example, a money manager of a small investment firm sees many salesmen selling investment funds, securities, and bonds many times throughout the year. Each offering outlined in a prospectus ostensibly details the risk and profits to be gained by investing in the fund. However, the prospectus is written in a way to deluge the reader with too much information that is confusing and complicated while maintain the illusion in the money managers mind that the fund is safe. A fund manager that proceeds with due diligence would look deeper into the facts of the offering by researching the company and soliciting advice from other professionals. But, the willing fool knowing how the game works buys into the prospectus as representing reasonable facts. He or she is a willing participant in a culture of other like minds around the world who profit by not looking too closely at what they are doing. Since the prospectuses looks reasonable, if it fails and loses money for the company, the fund manager can argue to the board of directors that they were simply deceived by the literature making the offering. In ethically evaluating small business practices this idea of due diligence as important part of business repeatedly shows itself. A willing fool is not duly diligent although they may appear on the surface to be so. Individual business people also play the game of the willing fool. For example, a sign making business needs a large number of signs, say twenty thousand dollars worth, for a client who wants to buy signs. The signs contain a large amount of red paint. Long lasting, high quality, red paint is very expensive. Most red paint fades in a few years, thus a prudent buyer must ask for the most expensive of paint if they intend for their signs to last. The paint salesman who is giving the sign company a bid for the paint comes into the store in the hopes of selling the buyer marginalizes paint with poor quality pigment in it. Since the paint will fade in ten years instead of twenty there is little risk selling the marginalizes paint. The salesman woos and seduces the owner into buying his paint and invites him out on his boat on the weekend. The business owner weakened by desire presents himself as a willing fool to the paint salesman. Deep down he knows the paint is probably marginalizes but is willing to conspire with the salesman to screw his client. Note:
Copyright 2009
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