Whistling in the Dark: Portals as Key to an Ethical, Transparent Culture
This is the first installment in a series on whistleblowing solutions from VinciWorks’ Sandra Erez. In Part 1, Sandra provides a brief history of whistleblowing and discusses the importance of a whistleblowing portal.
It was a cold winter’s day in 1777 when 10 sailors and marines met below deck to discuss their commander’s barbaric torturing of British soldiers on their American warship. Buoyed by the winds of virtue at their back, and braving the potential storm of dissent, they obeyed their conscience and presented a petition to Continental Congress, recounting their Commander in Chief’s ghastly deeds. Used to marching to an internal rhthym of impunity, Commodorer Esek Hopkins (whose brother was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence), aimed his ire at the rabblerousers, dismissing them from Naval service and charging them with libel. Luckily for the nascent American nation, Continental Congress was not blinded by the abuse of power, but instead came shining through like a beacon of light in a nasty storm. Bearing witness to the enactment of first whistleblowing protection law, Captain Hopkins was summarily tossed out on his Naval ass, brass buttons and all, while the government dredged up the…
