Honesty and Intergrity in the Web business.

According to “Wiki Answers” The definition of “Integrity” is as follows..

“Integrity comes from the Greek words ‘integritas’ and ‘integra’ meaning whole. It enters into any aspect of one’s life. It’s belief system without faltering no matter how dangerous, how unpopular the person makes themselves to others. It includes: sincerity, keeping one’s word and agreements, honesty, truthfulness, ethics, fairness and justice, punctuality and never faltering for what one believes in. A quote regarding integrity is ‘It is better to have an enemy who keeps his word, than a friend who does not.’”

Something in this definition resonated with me. Going against the grain to do the right thing almost seems like it never happens these days. Stepping out into the unknown of non-conformity is a blurry line at times but if you keep core values of what is right and what is true then it can be achieved with minimal effort and reap great rewards. Always do the right thing when no one is looking because if you don’t; it could come back to haunt you. Look at what happened in our financial sector this year. A LOT of companies and banks were not acting with integrity and thought it wouldn’t matter but BOY did it come back to bite them when millions lost their homes and jobs because of it. If they had just stopped to ask themselves if risking SO much was worth it for the American people (not just their own pockets) in the long run then America would be a LOT different right about now.  It is the same when you are designing a website.

Honesty and integrity are two KEY elements because if you become known as the developer that puts inaccurate information on your sites or blames others for your mistakes then not many companies will want to hire you. We are after all trying to create websites that create some kind of revenue so if you are known for inaccurate information then people will not know what to believe and be wary of any product you are trying to sell or any advertiser that is on your site.

My dad used to have a saying; you know, one of those that annoyed you but deep inside you knew it was true.. “It’s the right thing to do”. I have tried to follow those words my whole life and they have always steered me straight. Don’t make things more complicated than they should be. Just Do the right thing, act honorably, and good things will happen.