by Lynn Barendsen
One of the key three “Es” of “good work”, “ethics” is often the most fraught. Excellence is fairly straightforward: excellence means doing high quality work, or putting in your best effort. Engagement also seems relatively easy to understand because many of us feel it as we work: it’s what keeps us going when work gets hard, and can involve some combination of finding meaning, purpose or enjoyment in our work. But ethics - and doing ethical work - are more complicated. Ethics involve more than questions of “right” or “wrong” because sometimes there can be multiple “right” answers, no “good” answers or sometimes, very few if any positive choices. Ask yourself:
Have you ever been conflicted about a difficult decision at work?
Have you perceived something that seems unfair, been unsure about whether or not to speak up, or doubtful about whether anything will change if you do?
Have you been placed in an uncomfortable position when a colleague confides in you, feeling that you need to cover or bend the truth to protect that confidence?
On The Good Project, we are not philosophers by training. Nonetheless, we recognize the roots of moral philosophy in ethical considerations. The study of ethics addresses conceptions of right and wrong, of good versus evil but is also about weighing choices while considering values. Ethical thinking provides a framework with which we can consider our decisions and our actions. In terms of good work, we ask if and how individuals consider the impact of their work beyond themselves.
In previous writings, and relevant to this discussion, are the concepts of “neighborly morality” and the “ethics of roles.” Neighborly morality might also be understood as the Golden Rule, or treating others as you would like to be treated. Most of us make decisions on an almost daily basis taking this type of consideration into account: keeping sidewalks shoveled during the winter, or helping strangers at the grocery store with hard-to-reach goods. Whereas these types of actions typically occur in our everyday, non-working lives, the ethics of roles involve the standards by which we measure work. They may be as formal as the Hippocratic oath taken by all physicians or more informal, such as ethical codes developed and carried out within a particular business or workplace. Ideally, ethical work takes into account the standards of that particular workplace or profession, asking workers to take responsibility for their efforts.
Most often, we’re made aware of ethics when we’re faced with a difficult decision. During the original good work research, carried out in the mid 1990s, we asked participants a wide variety of questions about their work, their beliefs and values, and the influences that were most formative in their lives. When we first began interviews, we would ask, “Have you ever been faced with an ethical dilemma?” We quickly realized that this question did not solicit interesting responses; typically, we’d be met with blank stares. But this changed when we reframed the question to, “Have you ever been in a situation where you weren’t sure about the best course of action, or where you weren’t sure what to do?” As long as we didn’t ask specifically about “ethics,” we heard multiple stories about individuals faced with difficult decisions. Many of these stories are now in our dilemmas database.
As we have deepened our work in school settings, we have developed more detailed tools to support educators. Tackling ethical dilemmas can be difficult for all of us; it can be even more difficult to help students navigate their decision-making, especially in increasingly polarized, sometimes politically fraught classroom settings. As a result, we now offer a variety of resources to help educators, students and individuals navigate ethical choices.
For example, we offer a few basic frames to explain how individuals often approach ethical dilemmas. Consider, for example, a classic trolley problem, where an individual is faced with an impossible choice. A trolley is barrelling towards 5 people who are tied down across the tracks. If you pull a switch the trolley will be diverted to a track where there is only one person tied down. What do you do? Here are three approaches to unpacking this decision:
Utilitarianism, or ends-based thinking would argue that you should do the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. You should consider the end result and how the greatest number of people might be helped by your decision, and consider any associated costs. In this scenario, you should pull the lever, save five people, and sacrifice one.
Deontological thinking is a rule-based perspective, based on principles, do as you would want others to do, ends do not justify the means. In other words, it is wrong to take part in any action that would hurt another human being. This perspective would argue for taking no action at all.
Virtue-based thinking involves a perspective that relies on particular character strengths, such as bravery, curiosity, or open-mindedness. The “right” decision is the decision that someone with strong character strengths would do. A classic “thinking outside the box” example, this perspective would argue for trying to free or untie the individual or individuals, to jump on the trolley or try to stop it in some way, to demonstrate selflessness and bravery.
We often think of virtue-based thinking as the most complex of the three, or put another way, the least straightforward. It’s also the frame we mostly closely adhere to on The Good Project. We have developed additional frames useful to approaching ethical dilemmas, including responsibility, roles, alignment, and, in particular, values.
Ethics are in fact informed by our personal values, which serve as a foundation for ethical decision-making, influencing the choices we make in both our personal and professional lives. Exploring and understanding our own values are essential for cultivating a strong ethical framework. Similar to “virtue-based thinking,” we encourage the exploration of values via our Value Sort tool. Ideally, individuals are aware of and cultivating values in support of good work long before they are faced with difficult ethical decisions.
When we first began our study of “good work” in the mid 1990s, we often had to explain why we were studying what was then referred to as “Humane Creativity.” Why was it necessary to understand why some creative leaders were more “humane” than others? At that time, ethical lapses were not a daily newsworthy occurrence. Through the decades, and through large breaking stories such as Enron (depicted in the film “The Smartest Guys in the Room”) and Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, gradually the need for ethical workers became more and more clear. Over time, discussions of “good work,” have come to elicit quick nods from the audience and questions about how to make it happen, rather than questions about why it’s necessary. Ethics violations at Facebook (as identified by whistleblower Frances Haugen), Theranos, the admissions scandal “Varsity Blues,” doping in sports and luxuries provided to Supreme Court justices provide just a handful of many, wide-ranging examples.
We need ethical workers. We also need ethical leaders. For better or for worse, leaders are role models for our youth and are constantly in the public eye. As we have seen over and over again, if unethical leaders are successful, they will be imitated. Although “ethics” may be the most complex of the three “Es” in many ways it feels the most urgent and threatened component. Below are some additional resources to draw upon to continue to encourage and support ethical good work.
Resources:
A professional development video on ethics
An activity about making a difficult choice
A blog on discussing ethical dilemmas