The Pillars Are Cracking — And Business Can Help Rebuild Them

How to stop the erosion of everything that once made our societies worth living in.

Imagine the ancient pillars of Çanakkale — weathered, dignified, enduring. They stand as remnants of civilisations that once flourished, then fell. What brought many of those civilisations down wasn’t just war or famine, but internal decay: the slow erosion of values, trust, and shared meaning.

Today, our own societal pillars are under similar strain. But unlike stone, they don't crumble in storms — they collapse in silence.

We’re not watching one dramatic event. We’re watching the gradual disintegration of ethical standards — in boardrooms, social feeds, and HR departments, where moral lines blur and looking away is easier than speaking up.

Hate becomes “just another opinion”. Falsehood becomes “an alternative perspective”. Cruelty hides behind “free expression”.

The danger isn’t just individual — it’s systemic. When institutions fail to uphold the ethical foundations they claim to champion, they accelerate the societal decay we all feel.

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🧾 Case Study: When Conduct Is Just Paper

Take Accenture*. Like many companies, it has a Code of Business Ethics — a polished, public commitment to inclusion, human dignity, and zero tolerance for hate.

Yet, in Accenture:

• A managing director calls for divine punishment for Arabs he disagrees with.

• A systems lead wants to 'nuke' a country & kill its civilians, blames Jews for 9/11 and refers to Jews as "animals".

• An associate manager spreads age-old tropes about Jews, and mocks other cultural groups and their customs.

When faced with employees spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories, praising terrorist regimes, and dehumanising others, Accenture failed to uphold the values they claim to stand for.

These aren't employees simply expressing 'views'. They’re signals of ethical breakdown: conspiracy thinking, bigotry, authoritarianism.

And they don’t only harm their targets — they warp workplace culture, corrode trust, and normalise moral disengagement.

This isn't about one firm. It’s an example of what happens when ethical policies are treated as decorations — not anchors. 

The bigger question is this:

🛡️ How Do We Safeguard Civilisation?

Unethical behaviour doesn’t usually erupt. It creeps. It shows up in patterns — shaped by culture, incentives, leadership silence, and the gradual fading of moral instincts.

Psychologists call this ethical fading — when the moral dimension of a decision slowly disappears, so people can act unethically without guilt. It’s conscience on mute.

To stop that slide, we don’t just need rules. We need safeguards. Embedded cultural and institutional mechanisms that protect our moral foundations — before they're gone.

And business — with its scale, structure, and reach — may be one of the most powerful forces to help do that.

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🔧 The Four Pillars of Ethical Decision-Making

If companies truly want to be part of the solution — and avoid becoming agents of decay — they must go beyond compliance.

They must build cultures where ethics isn’t just spoken about, but lived.

Here's how we do it:

1️⃣ Moral Awareness

What it is: Recognising when a situation involves ethical stakes. 

Why it matters: Most ethical failures aren’t born of malice — they come from moral blind spots. 

What to do: Train people to spot when a decision carries moral weight.

Because if they can’t see the problem, they can’t stop it.

2️⃣ Moral Judgment

What it is: Evaluating choices using fairness, honesty, and respect — not just legality or compliance. 

Why it matters: Awareness without discernment leads nowhere. 

What to do: Equip teams to reason through dilemmas with courage and clarity.

Because ethics isn’t compliance. It’s conscience.

3️⃣ Moral Action

What it is: The courage to do what’s right — especially when it’s risky or unpopular. 

Why it matters: Knowing right from wrong is useless if people feel powerless to act. 

What to do: Create a culture where people are protected and supported to speak up.

Because fear kills integrity.

4️⃣ Moral Motivation

What it is: The internal drive to prioritise ethics over ego, pressure, or short-term gain.

Why it matters: Real integrity comes from conviction, not coercion. 

What to do: Recognise, promote and reward those who lead by living the organisation's values.

The right people empowered shape the right culture.

🏛️ Ethical Pillars Aren’t Just Corporate Tools. They’re Civilisational Safeguards.

If we want societies that are just, humane, and worth inheriting, we can’t leave ethics to HR manuals and crisis PR teams.

The four pillars above must be cultivated — through leadership, institutional design, and the rewiring of cultural incentives.

Because in the end, civilisations don’t collapse because a few people do bad things.

They collapse when too many good people stop seeing, stop caring, or stop acting.

The good news? Millions still want to do the right thing. They just need the tools, the support, and the freedom to do so.

It’s time we gave it to them.

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* If you unfamiliar with the Accenture issue I am referring to, have a look here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/liora-rez-150209220_stopantisemitism-has-uncovered-multiple-vile-activity-7345237946486194176-Pvkt