When vouching becomes a business.....

We get paid for the work we do. But what proves that we’ve actually done it? In most organizations, it’s the manager who decides whether an employee has delivered. In that sense, the manager becomes the primary witness to our performance.

But what happens when someone questions the manager’s judgment?

Naturally, the responsibility passes up the chain. The director vouches for the manager. The CEO vouches for the director. And the board of directors ultimately vouches for the CEO. It’s a hierarchy of accountability, each layer "deposing" on behalf of the one below.

But here’s where things can go wrong.

What if the entire chain — from the employee to the board — is hand in glove, fabricating results or covering up failures? In such cases, a company can run for years under the illusion of productivity and success… until it collapses. When the company goes bankrupt, all those so-called depositions — the affirmations from one level to another — are exposed as bogus.

Insiders often see this coming. They know the inner workings, and they’re prepared for the fallout. They make their exits, hedge their risks, or even profit from the downfall. But others — especially outsiders — are left to face the real consequences.

Sometimes, it’s an entirely unrelated company that suffers. A competitor or peer organization, one that has done things ethically, may be dragged into the same scrutiny. They’re suspected of the same corrupt practices simply by association or by industry reputation. And they must now undergo painful audits and public questioning, just to prove they weren’t doing anything wrong.

That’s the tragedy. In trying to prove their innocence, these honest companies are forced to fight a battle they didn’t choose — often under immense pressure, at great cost.

In the end, the real culprit isn’t one person. It’s the system — a chain of blind endorsements and mutual cover-ups. And when a system is built on fabricated truths, even the innocent may suffer

At the end of the day, it’s not enough to say “we did the work.” If the only proof of that work comes from a chain of people falsely vouching for one another, then the work itself turns out to be fiction.

Truth in work comes from truth in systems. When accountability fails at every level, the output is just noise — and eventually, it becomes worthless.

Let’s build systems that don’t just say the work was done — but prove it.