I came across an adage by Immanuel Kant when I was reading and working on my earlier Ethics in Business assignment, “In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of another. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” We were through the middle of the course when I was directionless regarding how we are supposed to take the right decision which could recombine both Utilitarian and Machiavelli principles when I came across this beautiful phrase. In law, people are judged by actions whereas in ethics even the thoughts are prone to judgement. Where law can be enforced on us, but ethics is a mere choice to guide our conscience to separate right from wrong and sometimes even right from right. I had never thought of being in a place where I would be compelled to choose between two right alternatives and the issue now became how am I supposed to discover a rational tool to determine morality? I have structured my learning paper into my journey throughout the course and how with every session and every new learning my point of view and thoughts evolved.
One situation can be looked at from different lenses, rational/emotional/etcetera, but how do I decide if there is merit in the way I think? At the end of the day, the story of our life becomes our life and any wrong decision taken will be perpetually engraved in the history of my life. The 4-spheres framework which I studied, gave a very explicit description of how we can take decisions by placing ourselves in different roles of a person, an economic agent, a company leader and beyond the boundaries of the firm, but I often tended to believe or rather hoped if there was a way in which I could combine the best outcome from all the four spheres through one single decision.
Assessing the consequences, the rights, my integrity and last but not the least, the practicality of all. Answering all the four questions together will be crucial to analysing the situation, however I’ll have to be comfortable in accepting the fact that there are going to be situations where there are no win-win solutions.
Upon discussing various cases in the class, I guess we all came to believe that each sphere is a universe in itself. It might be relatively an iota easier when taking a decision in a right versus wrong situation compared to a right versus right situation. Because in a right versus right situation there is no decamp from getting your hands dirty. In order to cater a greater good, I am bound to fail in satiating the other good. This may seem practical to the external world, but ethics is not external for me. My life is being examined by my actions and decisions even if there is no external world around. Hence, I believe it is my responsibility to take decisions as a leader of tomorrow and not merely as a tool of the organization.
I definitely agree to the fact that a lot of my actions and decisions are derived from my previous experience, like the “Men only club” case discussed in class. As I have been brought up and behaved in such a manner since childhood that I tend to not break any defined rules, if a club is only for men, I’d rather choose not to go and respect their rule. However, one thing that I hadn’t thought of earlier was how to communicate my decision in a diplomatic but firm manner when caught in such a fiddly situation and I started brooding about it only when sir brought this up in the class discussion. I reckon that I can lay down a structure where I will list out the pros and cons backed by references and experiences. A healthy discussion where everyone would put up their perspective and opinion will further refine the decision.
But what if the final decision is not something, I am fully comfortable with?
Here came in to rescue me one of the best things that I learned in class, The Mother’s Test. Actually, I am currently using this to take many of my personal life decisions as well and I am proud of the outcomes, be it favourable or unfavourable; at least I am able to look at myself in the mirror and sleep at night.
As at the end of the day it will be the individual who commits mistakes, the system is always clean. When it came to this, I became a little apprehensive regarding how will I cope up if I land in an organization where performance is measured and not values of the employee? Even if I don’t and won’t preach that but what will I do if I fall to be an object of this, is a question I am still not sure how I am going to find an answer to. Speaking of such organizations, one name always comes to my mind now, i.e., Enron. While discussing about the Enron case, the phrase “Burn baby, burn” has left kind of a scar in my mind. Not only it manifested the ugly side of falsely earned success but also made me cognizant of how an organization gets defined by the deeds of its employees and how employees get scarred in case an organization fails to deliver to its expected level of ethical standards. Suppose tomorrow I join a company say, HUL and by accident hit some pedestrian on road. The next morning’s headline won’t come as “Person X hits a pedestrian” but as “HUL employee hits a pedestrian”. This inbred association which every employee is going to have with his/her employer will be imperative in guiding our behaviour and decisions but at the same time it should not influence us to go beyond our defined threshold of compromises for success. Therefore, it’s not only about taking the decision with which I can live, but it is also about keeping the decision in line with the acceptable standards of the external environment. Nothing passes this world under the veil; thus, these small choices matter which will eventually roll up into a much bigger picture, turning or not turning me into a person I never wanted to be.
I realized that we generally find it easy to lose our emotional and mental footing and resist temptations, especially if we are under pressure, undue influence and depression or some other persuasive incentive. Hence, I have decided, never to take any decision when I am sad. No matter how worse the situation be, I’ll try my best to come out of the situation, move towards a positive aspect and if still my heart and mind asks me to give up, it is then when the time comes to move on to better things leaving all the toxins behind.
In the end, I would like to sum up a few key takeaways which I will keep with me all my life and will propagate it to others wherever possible: –
I’ll not measure my performance, but I’ll measure my life.
Especially in this world of measurement and metrics, the established system teaches us to focus on a metrics driven life over value driven as it is portrayed more as the symbol of success in the society. But in the race of numbers, I do not want to lose on the softer aspects of life which ultimately guide me to become a better and complacent person.
A unidirectional focus on numbers will just collapse.
Not only measuring how many lives am I reaching but it also would make a huge difference if I focus on the magnitude of change/impact that is being brought about.
I’ll never look for instant gratification, rather I’ll invest time on myself and my life.
We live a world where we expect results now. Even when I got my first job, I was reviewed quarter over quarter for results and deliverables. But I was working on a yearlong project, how could have I shown the impact of my work, I could only show the progress. Hence, probably faster is not always better, where long term successes are more valuable than short-term results. I guess, investing in myself is one the best things that I also learnt during our CEO interview with Mr. Anant Talaulicar. He emphasized deeply on the importance of compassion and self-compassion in life and how it is imperative to be a great manager and a leader.
Steer clear of the marginal exceptions “Just Once” which can turn out to be a slippery slope.
I guess life would be much simpler if I know what I stand for and stick to it without any exceptions. Once I unearth some justification to infringe my principles and commitments, I may wind up doing it more frequently and there is no turning back but only regret and remorse at the end of this road.
References
(ideas referred in multiple places, therefore have consolidated references here rather than footnotes): –
Business Ethics: Four Spheres of Executive Responsibility, Joseph L Badaraco Jr.
How will you measure your life, Clayton Christensen
Darden -Making Ethics Personal: Character and Your Personal Vision
Darden – Moral Theory, Frameworks, and the Language of Ethics and Business
WDI – Profile of Enron:The Rise and Fall
Immanuel Kant – http://resources.r9paul.org/ASA2/RS/Essays/Ethics_DeontologyKant.pdf
Nagesh Belludi – https://www.rightattitudes.com/2017/10/30/just-this-once/
David Sturt and Todd Nordstorm – https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidsturt/2017/09/12/is-the-need-for-instant-gratification-killing-long-term-results-you-might-be-surprised/#3185f1113558
https://hbr.org/2020/01/the-essential-clayton-christensen-articles
https://unmistakablecreative.com/measure-life-will-profound-impact-happiness-well/
Assignments: –
o Prakriti_047_A_Mini2
o Prakriti_047_A_Mini3
o Prakriti_A_047_Enron
o EIB_Transcript_A_13_14
2020-2-16-1581892076