Berkshire Hathaway Inc. makes its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics accessible to the public. It is an interestingly simple document.

It names to whom it applies, what the purpose of the document is, describes what to do when ethical standards are violated as well as how accountability is integrated. The main ethical principles and how to deal with them are named too. It ends with a short list describing the compliance procedure.

Of the 7 items on that list, one covers the need to be informed, one is how people can feel safe about reporting, and another is the need to think for oneself.

The remaining 4 items, that is the majority, invite people to discuss the issue naming a variety of ways to find guidance or the opportunity to think together. That is how these principles are made part of the way of being within Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and how that knowledge is used to find answers.

It describes an environment in which people are being trusted.

But also one in which it is clear that problems will arise, that it will be confronted with problems that can’t be predicted and to which people will have to find their own answers, and also that such a document cannot prevent that people who have been trusted may not live up to that trust.

The permissions present in acknowledging these truths may be the main reason this document exists. From another perspective, the main reason may be to provide guidance within a situation that cannot be mastered. From a third perspective, the main reason might be to help perpetuate values the company is proud of through broad principles that will continue to exist independently from how society changes its culture.

It all creates a clear reference point people can review to know who they are invited to be.