A Humorous Glimpse into Ethical Dilemmas in Mentorship

In the realm of professional growth and mentorship, the lines between ethics and pragmatism can sometimes blur, leading to some rather amusing situations. I recently stumbled upon a humorous story from a mentoring experience that truly encapsulates this phenomenon.

Several associates in their second and third years of law school volunteered to guide a Junior Achievement team comprised of high school students. The aim was straightforward: form a small business and operate it over a span of a few months. Our chosen venture? Selling fruit baskets. The plan was to purchase fruit in bulk, assemble the baskets, and deliver them to local homes.

While the concept was commendable, the Junior Achievement program imposed certain restrictions that proved challenging in practice. One of the most significant rules was that the business couldn’t accrue any debt. While this rule was undoubtedly meant to shield the organization from financial missteps, it created a significant hurdle for our budding business. Essentially, it meant we could not take on any liabilities—an impossible feat when it came to securing the necessary funds for purchasing fruit. How do you buy supplies without upfront capital? How do you generate funds without incurring liabilities?

The answer seemed simple: we turned to pre-sales. By requiring customers to pay upfront for their fruit baskets, we could secure the funds needed for purchasing fruit. From a business standpoint, this strategy was effective, enabling us to move forward with our operation.

However, this is where things took a rather amusing turn. As part of our responsibility to the Junior Achievement program, we were required to prepare weekly financial reports to share with their office. If we disclosed our cash collections and accrued deferred revenue accurately, we suspected it would raise eyebrows and draw potential ire from the program coordinators. Nevertheless, we needed to maintain accurate records to track who had paid for their baskets and who was still waiting on their orders.

Without any ill intentions, we found ourselves maintaining two sets of financial logs: the ‘real’ books, which accurately tracked our operations, and another set designed specifically for submission to Junior Achievement. In a surprising twist, we even involved the students we were mentoring in on our little secret. There was the legitimate set of financial records, and then there was the version we presented for scrutiny, which was, in essence, the “audited” version.

After realizing we had been operating this way for three to four weeks, we couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of it all. While we