I wish I hadn't asked
By Steve | September 21, 2006
Kevin Hunsaker, Hewlett Packard's Ethics Officer, was reported to have responded to an email from one of the company's investigators with this simple sentiment.
It is close to one I now share. I almost wish I had not started discussing the HP way back at the zero hour. It could be a full time job--and certainly is a full time job for the reporters who are, ironically, being fed confidential information from inside HP on a continuous basis.
"I wish I hadn't asked," is an honest sentiment, and perhaps acceptable if followed up with "But now that I have, we need to do . . . ."
I wish I hadn't started, but now that I have, I want to wait until a little more news comes out. Mark Hurd is holding a press conference tomorrow, where perhaps we will get a little of the company's perspective.
In the meantime, people concerned about investigative practices at their company might want to consider sending people to a seminar we have organized with The Conference Board called "Ethics and Compliance Enforcement: Conducting Effective Investigations and Applying Consistent and Fair Discipline." Click on this link for more information.