The How and Why of an Increasing Moral Dilemma
Chapter 4
Confessions of a Girl Who Sold Dreams and Then Regretted It
Red flag 2. “I understand that you want to pursue cricket, but a basic education is absolutely important. And the more you use our product, the lesser you’d have to worry about performing well in school, because a good score is bound to come with our product… Also, think about your JEE/NEET exam which was your focus when you bought our product. What triggered you to change your mind? I would still recommend that you rethink your decision about pursuing cricket because the chances of making it big are slim. It would be a better choice to stick with your initial engineering plan and use our product to crack the JEE/NEET exam”. That’s how she gently manipulated the teen. Now here’s the thing. Think about the questions I am going to ask now.
- Who gave her (any product expert) the right to call themselves ‘mentors’? None of the so-called mentors are qualified professionals. They are outright 22 to 25-year-olds straight out of college!
- Why should she (any product expert) be allowed to downplay a child’s dreams in order for a return to not happen?
- Isn’t everyone entitled to a refund? And why was the sale made in the first place if the child had a plan of pursuing cricket anyway?
- Who normalized talking to a student, a teen, in a manipulative tone for personal gain?
It’s easy to go on and on. But here’s the thing, she was just an employee. She did what she was asked to do in order to perform well at her job aka get recognized for having a good customer retention percentage. Do you understand the moral dilemma here? She has to do something that she does not believe in. But she had to do it anyway to excel at her job. That’s messed up right?!
Anyway, at the time this incident occurred, it may not have felt as bad, as it felt later. More days went by. More months went by. After constantly being in a state of doubt about her own capabilities back in sales, she was shining as a product expert and people knew she had something. Congratulations to her, she became a Team Leader at the age of 24! Her parents were happy, and she was happy. Her naivety was still intact. Her reality was farther than ever in sight.
Here’s the irony. How could one enjoy growth while also feeling guilt for doing the work well? Apart from monetary gains and change in position, there was something else that came with the promotion. “What I used to do single-handedly to every customer who spoke to me, I’d now have to make my entire team do it. Not only that, I need to ensure that they do it well”, she contemplated. Do what, you may ask. Well, lie and pretend and coerce and be pushy, instill the moral dilemma, and so on. In summary : Do all the damage that you need to, but get the numbers to speak out loud.
Read More : A Battle Fought Alone Is Always Lost
