Lessons · Accounting · pressure, opportunity, and the story people tell themselves
Pressure, opportunity, and the story people tell themselves
Three things are usually present together where an ordinary person takes money: a pressure they cannot share, an opportunity they can see, and a way of describing it to themselves that is not theft -- a loan, being owed it, everybody does it.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.
In beta. This lesson was written for Hone and has not yet been checked by a qualified accountant. Practice material, not professional advice. What that means.
What it is for
It explains why fraud is so often committed by the trusted and the long-serving rather than by obvious suspects, which is otherwise baffling. It also stops the useless question, which is who seems dishonest. Almost nobody who does this seems dishonest, and looking for people who do is how an organisation watches the wrong ten per cent.
How to think about it
Use it to think about exposure rather than about individuals. Where is unshareable pressure likely, where does opportunity sit unsupervised, and where does the work make a rationalisation easy to reach.
Worked example
A pressure that cannot be discussedDebt, an illness, a habit, a second household.
An opportunity they can see clearlyUsually because they built or run the process.
A story that is not theftA loan. Being owed it. Everybody does it.
The long-serving and trusted are the usual profileBecause trust is what creates the opportunity.
Your turn
Name the third leg, besides pressure and opportunity.
Pressure, opportunity, and
Solve one, graded on the server
The trap
Using it to judge individuals. It is a way of thinking about exposure, and applied to people it becomes a licence to suspect whoever is under visible strain, which is both unjust and a poor predictor.