Back in the 1970’s I conceived and wrote a very complicated computer program. Another man took credit for and used the results of what I did to advance his career but never fully disclosed he wasn’t the one who wrote the ground-breaking program. Some people knew I did it but the higher-ups didn’t.
At another event I prepared an elaborate forecast that had some problems in a rather obscure part. I revealed the problems to him. He pointed them out to his boss but made it seem that he found them. I had more integrity than to reveal his deception even though it hurt my own credibility. My naive thought was it wouldn’t matter in the long run because so much of the presentation was absolutely correct. But it did matter because……
He had me fired .. A double injustice..
He’s a millionaire today thanks in part, I believe, to the head start he received from the success of the program I wrote and my silence about his deceit. The program was a very big deal at the time that risked loads of money if it was wrong. It wasn’t.
Why write about events from 42 years ago? Because justice in important but it’s something that isn’t automatic. Because it’s important to hold yourself accountable in all things so when things that are unjust cause injustice it should be noted and remembered. To this day the effects of that great injustice remain. That’s wrong.
Years later I had a chance to go to work for another company but turned it down in part because the deceitful programming thief was involved there. He went on to much success, a lot of which was due to his own capabilities but neither the theft nor the deceit was revealed.
There’s more to both of our stories. While my story is different and very, very successful on it’s own, the injustice continues, his story is not over… neither is mine.
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