Integrity is Not Morality (and, What That Means for You)

Do you associate the word integrity with morality? If so, I want to convince you to stop that all together. Hear me out. 

What if the big “I” word had nothing to do with good or bad? The first person I’ve known to make this claim is a man named Michael Jensen. Jensen is an American economist with an illustrious career that extends well beyond the purposes of this discussion. Nonetheless, he has a controversial and enlightening view of integrity. 

Integrity is about being “whole and complete”.

And, being whole and complete has nothing to do with “right” or “wrong”. In fact, Jensen asserts that people are whole and complete and therefore in integrity when they honor their word. Period. Full stop. 

I find this paradigm shift away from morality particularly powerful for several reasons, namely:

1. Its inclusive of mistakes and repair, and
2. Its utility. 

On the topic of repair, being in integrity is something that can always be reclaimed. We’ve talked about ways to do this in the past, but the short story is even if you fail to honor your word, you can fix it! If you have the courage, of course. 

On the topic of utility, Jensen shares about the “workability” of integrity. Conversely, when a group or system lacks integrity nothing can work. After all, isn’t the basis of all of our dealings rooted in a basic assumption that we will do what we say. If that is gone, then what can we accomplish?

Integrity can feel like a big, gross, judgmental word. In fact, if you’re still reading I commend your ability to keep going after seeing such a scary term in the first sentence. Given that nothing works without integrity and that integrity can be restored, what are you waiting for?