[Assam] Business Ethics through Children's Book?

[Dilip/Dil Deka]

I believe it is possible. Brian Durbin (Busta Scam) deserves credit for the idea of teaching them young about business ethics. Also note in the interview that Mr. Durbin believes he can reach parents and grandparents as well.
  If you think back a little - the stories that your parents read to you have remained in your mind forever.
  Dilip
   
             
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 -->  "I started some drafts, and the Enron one just flowed out so fast after digesting all of the items from the press. To me, Enron was just a scam. The shares were overinflated so the guys in the inside could reap the benefits from it. It turned out to be worse than that because the money was used for self-enrichment." 
  Johnny Hanson: for the Chronicle

       
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  Oct. 27, 2006, 1:16AM
Moneymakers
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH BRIAN DURBIN
Kingdom of Norne presents a world that has things backward

  By PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle 
                
  -->    Brian Durbin, an electrical engineer whose wife did a short stint at Enron, didn't have a lot of money invested in the company.
  But its collapse prompted him to write a children's book about the rise and fall of the company.
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  Durbin says he wrote the book under the pen name Busta Scam as a way to teach kids about ethics.
  The Kingdom of Norne — that's Enron spelled backward — features rats and raptors and fake cheese traded for riches, allusions to some of the fake deals Enron executives were accused of putting together to mislead investors.
  Though completed in 2002, it was published this year and is dedicated to former employees of the fallen energy trader.
  Reporter Purva Patel talked to Durbin about the book.
  Q: Where did the name Busta Scam come from?
  A: The pen name Busta Scam precedes this book. My idea was to write a series of children's books because you know who reads to children are the parents and grandparents. So by default you're educating the parents and grandparents.
  Q: Have you written other books?
  A: I haven't. I started some drafts, and the Enron one just flowed out so fast after digesting all of the items from the press. To me, Enron was just a scam. The shares were overinflated so the guys in the inside could reap the benefits from it.
  It turned out to be worse than that because the money was used for self-enrichment.
  I've had a lot of feedback from ex-employees and investors. So that was the motivation. The message here is that greed can drive the bad behavior, and the poor decisions of a few can really impact an entire community. That's what really happened with Enron.
  Q: You wrote the book in 2002, and it ends with the bad guys answering for their actions. Do you feel like the same ending occurred in real life?
  A: Yeah. ... I thought it was appropriate that at the time the ending was just that — that they would have to answer for their actions. I really didn't know they would be convicted.
  Q: What's your next book going to be about?
  A: I don't know, but I really like the idea of doing one on the pigeon drop scam, because every couple of years you see victims who have fallen for that.
  It has a few variations that are very popular, and I really hate that one. I have a little bit of a draft going. We've focused our efforts on this one, but with the trial's conclusion, it will free me to work on that project next.
  Q: Have you done any book signings?
  A: Yeah, actually I did one at one of the Aggie games and thought about doing some other ones, but really what I've been doing is signing books and giving them away. We've given away about 100. I had to buy them. We gave a lot away to schools.
  My daughter's kindergarten class actually sat down and read the whole thing, and they talked about how would you feel if this happened to you —and what would you do?
  That's really what my wife and I wanted. There just seems to be this big void in ethics out in the world. There are all kinds of opportunities for people to do the right thing, but they just don't.


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