Enron Business Lesson

Taking business classes definitely has impacts on me. I'm becoming interested to know what is going on in the business world… at least for now :P
In last night class, my prof showed me an interview video of an ex Enron CEO, which intrigued me and now Enron became my obsession. Soon after the class ended, I rent the DVD of Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room. It was a documentary film of the rise and fall of Enron. I heard about Enron stories before but never really had the curiosity to know what was really going on. Watching the movie, I was amazed by how the collapse in the end was stories about people, characters, dreams, morals and delusions. Like some people said in the movie it was never about the numbers, it was about the people and the culture. At the end of the day, who should take the blame? Nobody can point this to a single person’s fault. I think everyone was so into it or either trapped into it. Hearing the tape of traders making jokes about how a power plant getting burn was a beautiful thing was sickening. How could these people say that? Only people with no sympathy could say that.

It’s an amazing story really and there are so many lessons you can take from this case. Corruption and dirty work don’t just happen in 3rd world countries. They do happen here in America and even more mind blowing when you know about it. One lesson that sticks in my mind, in the interview, Ken Lay, the ex CEO, did not want to take the full responsibility of what had happened. He defended himself by saying this was done by some people whom he trusted and at the end betrayed him. He was kept in the dark because these people kept telling him that everything in the company was fine. When he knew about it, it was too late.

Should we believe him? Only God and Ken Lay himself knew the truth. But this is what usually happens in companies, people sitting on the top, the leaders, like to disseminate responsibility when things go wrong. Because A didn’t do this, B wasn’t aware of that, bla bla bla. The point is, if you are the CEO, you are the leader, you are the captain of your ship. And not only you are responsible for the safety being of the ship itself but as well as the actions of the crews inside it. Take full responsibility.