Mark Pastin

The fifth biggest ethical mistake is assuming that a business practice is acceptable because it is a common practice in the industry. Just because a practice is common in an industry does not mean that it is safe or ethical. It all depends on which companies in an industry you compare yourself to. For example, Enron was the most admired company in the energy industry – until it wasn’t. If you are the first one in an industry caught doing something wrong, you often pay the price of the entire industry correcting its practices. Think of the scene in The Tin Men in which two aluminum siding salesmen sit outside a Congressional hearing saying to one another, “We only did what everyone was doing.” If this sounds a bit lame, avoid putting yourself in the same position.