When I purchased my first business back in 1990, it was a
company that had been mismanaged for many years. The financial statements had been altered for
years to hide the ugly truth that the business was going down the tubes. Top management also had engaged in
inappropriate behavior with the staff.
The climate in this company was ripe for a reality show drama that could
rival the Kardashians.
As I immersed myself in this culture of debauchery, I knew
that the only way to climb out of this mess was to run the business with the
highest level of integrity. Now that I
reflect back upon the past 24 years, I submit that the only way to run a
business is according to the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others
do onto you. In my mind, this means treat
people with respect, support people so they can succeed, be diligent about
cutting waste, and be willing to make tough decisions that are in the best
interest of the entire organization.
Keep things simple and pragmatic.
And avoid the egotistical nonsense that kills many a company.
That’s why I’m so upset with one of my recent decisions. Folks, I have officially sold out. I have succumbed to the political
machine. I am now one of the many who
have bought into an economic fraud. My
name is Brooks, and I am a scammer.
So what have I done to violate the basic tenets of good
business practice? What action could be
so odious that I would feel compelled to bare my soul to the blogosphere? What has caused me to sell out after all these
good years? Here it goes folks. I am prepared to confess.
I have officially committed the company to become certified
by the Forest Stewardship Council.
OUCH. That hurt. I think it was easier for Lance Armstrong to
admit he lied. I was hoping I would receive
immediate support and words of encouragement.
A Michael Sams kind of vindication; letting me know that I was really
over reacting to the circumstances. But
no. Here I sit, a newly minted scam
artist, befriended by the thousands of lemmings who have bought into the FSC
program in the past. I will soon be a
member of a group that uses social responsibility as a cloak to hide its
economic greed.
I was forced to pursue an FSC certification since Re-View was
selected to manufacture historic window replicas for a LEED gold university
project. In order to secure a precious
point towards a gold standing, the project team demanded that all wood be FSC
and all people who touch said wood be chain of custody certified.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was founded in 1993 and
says that its mission is to promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial
and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests. What this organization really does is spend
its time manipulating the construction industry in an effort to feather its
“non-profit” nest. The pursuit of
forestry certification hegemony and the associated fees is the true calling of
the FSC. Social responsibility serves only
as the accelerant to drive sales and the associated profits of certifications.
The FSC spends more effort trying to shoot down competitive
forestry management programs than it does to promote responsible forestry. For
many years now, the FSC has viciously attacked the Sustainable Forestry
Initiative (SFI) in an effort to maintain a single standard. They have publicly attacked consumer product
manufacturers who used SFI labels in their packaging. FSC also pays dearly to sustain its standing
as the only certification accepted by LEED.
If FSC was truly interested in the promotion of responsible forestry
management, one would think they would encourage other certification agencies
that pursue the same goal. This pit bull
attitude towards competition shows the true colors of FSC.
I have a hard time understanding how a “non-profit”
organization would need to charge such exorbitant rates for its
certification. In addition to the annual
fee, one has to pay to have an auditor evaluate the written procedures demanded
by the organization. Once the auditor is
gone, there is no mechanism to police compliance and there have been many cases
of lapses in quality standards. In just
the past year, FSC has increased its annual fee by 32.5%. Wow!
How many non-profits increase their rates by such a grand margin? I could retire early if my company could
increase prices at the FSC rate.
Soon my company will have an eight-page document that outlines
our policies and procedures on how we handle wood according to the FSC
guidelines. Why did I take this
step? Because business is business as
they say. Our company won’t have to
alter any of our business practices since we already sourced our wood from
responsible forests. After we pay our
auditor and the FSC fee, we will be able to proudly display the FSC logo on our
products, website, and marketing materials.
We will also be able to charge more for our FSC products even though
nothing has changed. I’m not saying we will do it…but we could. I feel so good about myself. It has been a tough week. I think I’ll go
crawl into a hole.
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