Why do good, capable people sometimes make bad choices at work? Why do they stay quiet when something feels off or go along with decisions that don’t sit right?
It’s easy to assume it’s a character issue—that someone lacked integrity or didn’t have the backbone to say no. But in most cases, that’s not the full reason.
It’s the system.
And one of the most powerful and overlooked parts of that system? Incentives.
I used to work in corporate ethics and one of the first things I learned is that employees will almost always find a way to hit the goal. If the system rewards outcomes without paying attention to the how, then the how starts to bend. Quietly. Routinely. And often, invisibly.
Incentives don’t have to be malicious to be dangerous. They just have to be louder than values.
The Psychology of Obedience (and the Corporate Version)
We’ve known for decades that people tend to follow authority. Stanley Milgram’s experiment in 1963 showed that regular people would give what they thought were dangerous electric shocks to strangers, just because a man in a lab coat told them to. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment revealed how quickly people conform to roles—even when those roles involve cruelty or control.
In corporate life, the “lab coat” might be a performance target, a promotion path, or a spreadsheet labeled “Q2 Goals.”
People don’t need to be told to act unethically. They just need to be told “Get it done."
When the message is “deliver or else,” shortcuts don’t look unethical—they look smart. Or necessary. Or like the only option.
When the "What" Matters More Than the "How"
Take Wells Fargo. Employees opened millions of fake accounts. Not because they wanted to, but because hitting sales quotas was tied to their pay, job security, and future.
Or look at Volkswagen’s emissions cheating. Engineers found a workaround: hit the targets, avoid failure, protect the brand.
No one had to say, “Be unethical.”
They just had to say, “Make it happen.”
And it’s not just in corporate offices. You see it in public life, too—where loyalty is rewarded more than honesty, and outrage gets more airtime than nuance. Systems start to reward the loudest voice, the quickest fix, and the clearest allegiance. Not the person who asks hard questions or slows things down to think.
How Ethics Quietly Erodes
Once you're in the system, the drift happens fast. Here's how:
- Reward pressure: When your bonus or future depends on results, the edges blur. You learn to focus on the number—not the impact.
- Fear of failure: People stay silent because they’re afraid to look weak or be labeled “not a team player.”
- Role morality: “I’m just the analyst.” “I just run the numbers.” People disconnect from responsibility because the role gives them cover.
- Ethical fading: Small compromises get repeated, normalized, and eventually stop feeling like compromises.
None of these requires bad intent. Just a system that overindexes on performance and undervalues reflection.
So, Can Systems Be Built to Help?
In short, yes. If systems can nudge people toward ethical shortcuts, they can also nudge people toward values-based action. But it takes effort, and it starts with actually valuing the how as much as the what.
Ways for how organizations can build systems differently:
- Including values-driven behavior in performance reviews.
- Offering real (not retaliatory) ways for employees to raise concerns.
- Coaching managers to ask, “How did we get this result?” instead of “Did we get the result?”
- Using frameworks like Giving Voice to Values, which teaches people not just to know what’s right—but to act on it, even under pressure.
And then there’s leadership. Culture cascades. Setting the tone at the top is crucial. If leaders celebrate only the person who hit the number, regardless of how—it tells everyone else exactly what matters. But if a leader celebrates the person who walked away from a misaligned deal? That speaks even louder.
The Quiet Test of Integrity
Most people want to do the right thing. That’s not the problem. The problem is when the system quietly teaches them not to.
The real test of integrity doesn’t usually happen during a crisis. It happens in the day-to-day grind. When no one’s watching. When you’re tired, and under pressure, and you’ve got numbers to hit.
So, here’s the question for any leader or organization:
- What are you actually rewarding?
- Are you building a culture of ethical agents—or just skilled performers who know how to follow orders?
- And when someone’s forced to choose between doing what’s right and doing what gets rewarded, which path are you making easier?
Because good people will follow the system you give them.
Let’s make sure it’s one that helps them do the right thing.
