We will explore some of the hurdles to ethics. Then we will look into how to clear these hurdles and keep to the ethics that we share as a society.
In order to understand the pitfalls that await us it is necessary to understand three aspects of how people work. First there is the way that the world works. Many times we overlook that our decisions will lead to more than one effect. Sometimes in the interest of making decisions more manageable we only look at one aspect of the decision. This leads to over looking consequences that would otherwise lead us towards a different conclusion.
When there is a low probability that there will be a problem we tend to over look the problems that can arise. It was a similar decision process at Ford that ignored the Ford Pinto fires. There were few enough cases of death that the company felt it wouldn’t be necessary to recall the vehicle. This decision kept a deadly car on the road. A decision that we can see now wasn’t ethical, because the company could have avoided the problem.
Sometimes decisions are made that don’t take into account all of the stakeholders. In order to treat people with respect it is necessary to take into account all of the people involved.
A common theme in many of these sex scandal cases we see is that the participants think that no one will find out. It’s easy to think that if no one finds out than what’s the harm. The next step is to ask oneself if this came to light how will the public react. If it’s not something you are willing to share. Then it is a bad decision.
Many times it may seem easier to push a decision through with the aim of fixing something right now. The problem of discounting the future is that there might have been a plan that would have created a solution that would have worked out better in the long run. The irresponsible government spending that we are seeing is aimed at fixing problems right now. There seems to be very little thought of how it will be paid for in the future.
There are decisions made that can effect a whole industry, and there is little thought paid to what those effects may be. For years in the ATV industry they have shown commercials of the machines tearing through the forest and driving through the mud. They did this without taking into account that while this may sale machines, it hurts the image of the sport.
Lastly there are situations that may be completely out of our control. In these cases it is necessary to work through it. Blaming yourself or others rarely accomplishes anything. In some cases it just is, what it is.
In the grand scheme of things it is easy for us to say we will avoid risk at any cost. It makes more sense to identify the acceptable risks, and figure out what can be traded off to maintain a balance.
Part of the reason we feel inundated by evil acts of people is that is what we are interested in. Good people doing good things aren’t of interest to us. When a problem happens it is easy to get caught up in the cause of the problem rather than to identify what the outcome of the problem is.
We also have our own theories of people we have to deal with. There is this “us” and “them” stigma that we all carry. Ethnocentrism and stereotypes cause some of us to view people a certain way, and we use that as an excuse to treat them differently.
We also carry our own theories of ourselves. The illusion of superiority leads us to focus on our strengths and ignore weaknesses. That’s why you will see people who like to talk about their success, but will quickly blame someone/something else for their failures.
Another pitfall is that we forget to take the good with the bad. We think nothing bad could or should happen to us. When it does we are on the hunt for someone to blame, so that we can get back up and standing.
There is also the belief that we can control things we can’t. This puts you in a situation where you will be disappointed.
We may think that we contribute more than we really do to a company. This may create a feeling of entitlement. I deserve this because I’ve worked for it. I’ve seen this behavior from employees and myself. In my own experience I’ve felt under appreciated because I felt like I did most of the work. Whether this was true or not I need to be able to step outside myself to evaluate.
Over confidence in oneself leads a person to present information that isn’t necessarily correct, as if it were fact. This can lead to trouble when it’s not based on solid facts.
In order to improve the ethical decisions that we make it is necessary to evaluate the quality, breadth, honesty, and to be aware of the dilemmas you might face. When your decisions are made on solid facts they will be better than acting on hunches. Considering the wide range of consequences for an action will also help you to make a better decision. Being honest with yourself and others. Tell it all, tell it now, and tell it once. Don’t believe you can fool anybody. The truth will find its way to the surface.
Another good tactic that presented itself to me in the reading came from the article on Mark Sanford. Rushmore Kidder, the author of the article, suggested that maybe we should plan for ethical dilemmas that might present themselves. If we are ready for the attacks, and we have a plan then maybe we can avoid some of the ethical pitfalls that await us in the real world.
