Elements of Value

 I talk a lot about how to integrate ethics into your work, whatever that is. I firmly believe it helps us all make better decisions when we do integrate our ethics.

The biggest challenge though, is what set of ethics. Most of us live and work in a multi-cultural environment. How can we be sensitive to religious and cultural differences in values and still, integrate ethics in our collective decision making. 

The answer? Use a secular set of ethics. It really doesn't matter which list you use. All lists of ethics do is help jump start conversations about what it is we value and why. It's ok that people value different things more than others. It really is. It's in the dialogue that understanding and collaboration and agreement on how best to move forward can occur.

If you ignore this aspect of decision making, you can end up making some really bad decisions and people won't feel as motivated or connected to the decision as they would if they understood the moral imperative of the decision whatever that is. 

There are several lists you can use. The good news is that there actually are common human ethics that most people share. I like the ones that don't treat ethics as a hierarchy.  The image above is the American Humanist Association list of 10 Humanist commitments done as a wheel. The wheel makes it easier for participants in a discussion to invoke their favorite ethic or an ethical value they think applies and discuss it in conjunction with the other values.

My friend Elizabeth Castillo shared with me Bain's list of 30 Elements of Values. There is a really cool interactive graphic for this at their website and again, this list can help your team or group discuss which values they think are applicable in a way that is inclusive of everyone. https://media.bain.com/elements-of-value/#   Here is a link to a talk she did on this topic: http://humanisticmanagement.international/rethinking-resources-a-path-to-more-humanistic-management/

Another great resource is the Bildung Rose as created by Lene Rachel Anderson. These are integrated ethics that help with decision making and ethical judgement. And again, it's in a rose form because the idea is to balance the values. Here is a link to her talk on this which in turn, links to her website: http://humanisticmanagement.international/using-the-bildung-rose-as-a-strategic-diagnostic-tool/

If you want to learn more about how to integrate your ethics into your decision making, I have a wide variety of books and online courses that are good for personal and professional development. Many are continuing education courses and provide certificates of completion.   I also do group training programs on humanistic management and leadership. https://humanistlearning.com/