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/

Business Ethics are Human Ethics

The rules are pretty simple really. Treat other people fairly. Don’t cheat, steal, lie or cause harm to another person.

Most people play by these rules. They are good rules.  If other people are honest in their dealings with you, things are pretty good.

The reason we have to keep clarifying what is ethical and the reason we have to discuss it is because some people like to cheat to gain an unfair advantage. They view life as a competition and compete. And that’s not an entirely bad thing.  A competitive streak helps us strive to be better and to do better.

But even if we are just playing a game of Candyland, even the most cutthroat game of Candyland (and yes my family plays by our own rules - http://stuffjenlikes.blogspot.com/2012/07/hancock-house-rules-candy-land.html), we still have rules we have to follow.

The rules make sure everyone is treated the same and has the same chance of success. People who cheat rob others of the chance to succeed. It does real harm. Well, not if you are playing Candyland, but real harm if it’s in business. You get my point.

Ethics only really becomes complicated when people bend the rules a bit to see if they can get away with a little cheating. If caught, they argue, well, it wasn’t exactly against the rules, even if it was against the spirit of the rules. We as a society then have to employ lawyers and judges to judge and rule whether what happened was technically against the rules or not. (I don’t entirely understand the lawsuits involving the NFL at the moment, but my husband assures me, it’s about this sort of skirting the edge of the rules to gain an advantage sort of behavior by all parties.)

What I want to encourage you to do, as a human being, is to understand this: business ethics are human ethics. If you would consider it unfair if it happened to you, it’s unfair and therefore unethical, even if it’s technically legal.

And no, I do not respect those who bend the rules to their advantage. Just as I would consider such a person a cheater if I was playing a board game with them, I consider them a cheater and unethical if they employ such rule bending tactics in the world of business. Such behavior robs other people of the opportunity to succeed.  If you can’t win by playing fair, then maybe you don’t deserve to win.