The pros, not the cons.

In professional work, there is an unspoken decorum. If one has to speak to the unspoken in business, it is usually more of a con than a pro. I do not believe that the majority know that they are conning their way into industry by instilling a feeling of confidence beyond their capability. I do not believe that the majority understand that, more often than not, doing so leaves both parties unhappy in the long term. Capable professionals have measured confidence based on not only unshakable belief but empirical, objective, consistent evidence outside of their bias towards themselves. With that said, it doesn’t mean that the pro will always deliver the result. Just as it doesn’t mean that the con may not be able to — with timing, luck, and persistence — stumble into finding that they can deliver on the result. These two sides have never been about good and bad. Rather, they represent two components needed at different times in life to achieve the highest level of one’s potential. The traditional form of a con is more a person looking to not consider the other side while having no intention to expand what they are presenting. This form of conning is the opposite of having integrity and can be dangerous in most circumstances. In order to understand the pros and cons of any situation, one must see both sides as two helpful points of data to interpret. Adding the element of good and bad in any measurement will always leave leaks in the foundation of one’s logic model. The obvious negative of lack of integrity is equally damaging on both sides, no matter what side one falls on, as the end result is the same regardless of the base. A pro without integrity is just as useless as a con. Integrity is the most accurate measurement of human performance, not a pro or a con.

Where does integrity fall for you in assessing the economics of human behavior, both personally and professionally?