I make decisions every day  Yes, but are they good?  What does a “good” decision entail? Head Heart/gut Critical thinking/moral imagination

Aristotle’s Means of Persuasion Logos PathosEthos Values

How (Un)ethical are you?  Implicit biases

Bounded Ethicality  Systematic constraints on our morality that favor our own self-interest  Your unfairness v. my unfairness Resource distribution

Why we sometimes make not so great decisions.

Theories about Other People  Ethnocentrism  Stereotypes

Theories about the World  Cascade of consequences -“You can never do just one thing.”  Judgment of risk -Risk trade-offs and framing

Theories about Ourselves  Illusion of superiority Favorability Optimism Control  Self-serving fairness biases  Overconfidence

Where would you place an X? Compared to the other employees in my organization, I am … the least an average the most ethical employee employee ethical employee

While you might accept the fact that most people have inflated perceptions of their own ethicality, in all likelihood you remain skeptical that this applies to you. “Only the wisest and stupidest of [people] never change.” -Confucius

What is moral muteness?

MoralImmoral/Amoral Moral Amoral ?? (Bird & Waters, 1988) BEHAVIOR SPEECH Moral Muteness

Moral Muteness: Causes  Threat to: Harmony Efficiency Image of power and effectiveness

Moral Muteness: Consequences  Moral amnesia  Narrowed conception of morality  Moral stress  Neglect of abuses  Decreased authority of moral standards T. L. Ceranic

Change Intervention  Open (yet structured) discussions  Be patient  Learn how to speak (write) ethics  “It is impossible to foster greater moral responsibility by business people and organizations without also facilitating more open and direct conversation about these issues by managers.”

Infusing values into decisions via moral imagination  Principles in choosing well: Every action represents a choice Every choice has positive and negative poles Every decision is a tread-off in values

Who comes to mind when you think of really successful companies?

Moral Imagination Concerns over a lack of imagination in business have little to do with the overall quantity of imagination and much more to do with the quality of imagination being exercised regularly in the workplace.

What does moral imagination do?  Combats organization factors that corrupt judgment  Fosters creativity  Offers new solutions  Enters EACH stage of moral decision making

Rest: 4 stage model of EDM Moral awareness  moral judgment  moral intent  moral behavior

Is this an ethical issue?

Ties to EDM stages  Awareness = enriched Enlarges set of possible actions  Judgment = more flexibility Using different ethical lenses  Intent = involved sense of self Idealized standard as basis for decision  Behavior = adjusted Meet practical necessities of situation

How to encourage moral imagination?  What kind of organizational context is necessary?  How could leaders encourage this type of thinking?

Character  Who do you think of when you think of character?

Character Consistency between what you say you will do and what you actually do.

Character  The actions you take to carry out the ethics and morals that you believe in.  Defines, builds, or breaks your reputation.  Who you are and what you do when no one is looking.

Jeff Bezos

Character v. competence  Modern education has placed more emphasis on competence than character  Not mutually exclusive

Building businesses of character  Think about what you stand for and what you want to be known for: apply that to your job  Make talking about values/character ok  Reward those utilizing their values/character  It’s FREE

Defining moments  There is a stake for everyone Steve Lewis Kathryn McNeil Uclaf (RU-486)  Have you been (un)lucky enough to have one?

Choose action in your decision-making process!  Clarify the ethical issue  Create alternatives (via moral imagination) Don’t judge alternative Critical thought shuts down creative thought  Evaluate alternatives According to your character