The Quirky Side of Mentoring: A Lighthearted Take on Ethics in Business

Ethics in the workplace can sometimes be a gray area, especially when it comes to education and mentorship. An amusing anecdote from my time mentoring a high school Junior Achievement team sheds light on this idea.

Our group, consisting of some enthusiastic second and third-year associates, was tasked with guiding a team of high school students. Their mission was to create and run a small business over the course of two to three months. After brainstorming, we decided to venture into the fruit basket business. The plan was simple: purchase bulk fruit, assemble beautiful fruit baskets, and deliver them to local residents.

However, we quickly discovered that the Junior Achievement program had a few constraints that complicated our ambitions. One significant rule was that our business could not incur any debt. While this is a commendable policy to help students grasp financial responsibility, it posed a real challenge for our budding entrepreneurs. How could we purchase fruit without upfront money? And how could we secure funds without creating any liabilities?

In our effort to meet the program’s criteria, we decided to request that customers prepay for their fruit baskets. By selling orders and collecting payments in advance of our deliveries, we found a workaround that worked seamlessly from a business standpoint.

But here’s where it gets amusing—and perhaps a little questionable. As part of our mentoring responsibilities, we were required to prepare weekly financial reports for Junior Achievement’s oversight. If we accurately reflected the cash collections and future obligations, it would undoubtedly raise some eyebrows at the regional office. To maintain our operational integrity while adhering to the program’s guidelines, we devised a rather unconventional solution.

Without intending any harm, we ended up creating two sets of financial records. One set was our “real” books, which we used internally to track payments and outstanding orders, while the other was a polished version intended for submission to the Junior Achievement office. What started as a casual observation with my fellow mentors turned into a lighthearted acknowledgment that we were, indeed, maintaining two parallel financial realities.

As the weeks progressed, we simply rolled with it, chuckling at our own cleverness while the students remained blissfully part of this ethical conundrum. By the end of the project, we had successfully navigated the intricacies of both mentorship and the unintentional shades of business ethics.

Reflecting on this experience, it’s clear that while the lines between right and wrong can blur in certain situations,