OS and Ethics

[Seamus McInerney]

This is a really interesting issue and I love the two examples given. The
diversity example is interesting in that at first glance it appears to be a
very cynical response to a customers requirement. So what did happen next?
Did you get the job? Did any women get hired and what was their experience?

In recent years I have found myself having a degree of sympathy for the
last guy to realise that times have changed. Things change slowly and there
are always people out there who don't spot that that the tide has changed
until long after there boat is high and dry. People who try to keep a
particular industry going long after it's sell by date. the visionaries are
first to leave; then those who have options and can pretend they left for
some other reason if the tide comes back in; then those who use the courage
of the others and scoff at those left behind recognising that the tide
really has gone out for good; and finally those who are dragged kicking and
screaming. It must be really scary for that last group.

What goes on in the mind of the last guy to realise that racism is simply
not acceptable any more or gender discrimination or ageism. They still do
their job as well as before but one day the company culture changes and
everything they believed yesterday is no longer acceptable. We have just
introduced a ban on smoking in pubs in Ireland and some people are having a
hard time of it. The pint and the cigarette are part and parcel of their
whole social existence and poof, no more. There is a movement now, finally,
against advertising of alcohol in the context of sport. There seems to be a
tendency for more extreme elements to be left in organisations as the
changes arise. I wonder what is happening in the National Rifle
Association. Do the moderates leave one by one with only the hardline and
very dangerous people remaining. A question for the US listers, do birds of
a feather flock together into certain areas of the US and is this affecting
the way certain states will vote in the upcoming elections.

People under threat tend to gather with others who make them feel safe.
Other more moderate voices often feel as if they are not being listened to
and leave to find people with whom they feel safe. And so we get rich
suburbs and inner city ghettoes. If we were to leave such groups to
themselves would they become more extreme or do they eventually implode.
Companies will go out of business, churches decline in attendance and sad
communities die.

I just hope there is somebody there to put their arm around the last
smoker, or racist, or gun toten (?) NRA women or capitalist or republican
or catholic or tribal warrior or whatever, who can say gently "time to
change, think new things, move on to new spaces". Unfortunately, they seem
so strange to us, so out of whack, we just shoot them.

So here's to those strong enough to bring openness to places where there is
none, light into the darkness and all that jazz.

Shay

At 15:20 31/08/2004, you wrote:
>I am loving the discussion about ethics and OS.  I agree with everyone.
>Here's my 2 cents.
>
>  When facilitating a module on "Facilitating Ethical Conduct," within a
> leadership seminar to corporate folk, we discuss this issue.  What's
> tough about ethical issues is the conflict of two equally important
> values, for example, justice vs mercy.  Difficult choice.  Does context
> matter?  Justice if your child is murdered...or mercy for prisoners
> harshly treated.  For me, the more I am clear on my values and
> principles, the easier the decision, but not without some deep thought
> and looking at the context.
>
>Here's two quick stories about how a consulting company handled their
>ethical dilemmas:
>
>About 12 years ago I interviewed with a well-known consulting group for a
>position as one of the first women to join their company in the position
>of "consultant."  The president told me why they were looking to include
>women.  They needed to diversify their consulting group.  All were white
>males, mostly young with a few older lions.  One major potential client
>asked them where their diversity was in their consultants because their
>company valued it and couldn't see working with a company that didn't show
>it in their business practices.  Hence the jump to interviewing and
>including women on their team to increase business.
>
>Also, a large cigarette company wanted them to teach their philosophy in
>classes and do organizational consulting.  It was a potentially very
>lucrative contract.  The conflict of values, ethical issue, was 'do we
>help a company that makes a product that we do not condone?  (the company
>has a religious heritage that strongly values healthy living, no caffeine,
>alcohol or tobacco).  I found it amazing that there would even be a
>discussion about this or that they would even pursue this client.  What
>they decided to do, after much thought, was not pursue the contract but
>offer individuals within the cigarette company an opportunity to consult
>with them on a one-on-one basis.
>
>Does business (money) drive our values (when we don't know where the next
>paycheck is coming from) or do we stand in the ones that are important to
>us?  Clarifying our own values is the most we can do and then acting on them.
>
>Blessings,
>Blake
>PS:  wasn't "Values Clarification" a big issue in the 60's?  Hmmm........
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Crossroads Facilitation
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www.crossroadsfacilitation.ie
"Building bridges and getting you over them"

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