Values, Principles and Ethics

This is one of the most difficult articles for me to write, mostly because it is more worthy of a book than an article. But I think it is important because of the amount of times I have heard comments around the boardroom or a gathering of directors and/or managers like:-

• "When I was younger we always …….;" or

• "Whatever happened to loyalty?" or

• "Don’t they know it’s not how you do things?"

My answer to the last statement is, “Probably not, why should they if nobody has taught them?” Values without specification and context can be as meaningless as questioning the colour of the number four.

We live in a multicultural world, with different histories, education and ethical backgrounds. Our origins determine our worldview or starting point of ethics, and then continue to adapt to our environment.

Without going too deep, but wanting to give some context to this, let’s just take a look at part of the history of the Western World.

Let’s start with the Greeks who are regarded by many as the founders of western civilization (and in many ways our best model because of the plethora of information available to us).

Here are three examples of values that were upended.

·      The Greeks were so religious that the history books of the 5th century BC acknowledged Zeus and the Titans as readily as all other historical facts (see Herodotus).

·      Contemporaneous writings (Homer et al) noted noble characteristics included a willingness to avenge one’s family.

·      Infanticide was seen as a way of honouring the gods (stories of Agamemnon, et al).

Within a few hundred years, these values or ethical stances were challenged.

·      The Hellenistic philosophers turned more to reason and questioned the dependence on the gods (Apollonius et al).

·      The impact of Christianity on Greece lead to a greater acceptance of the concept of forgiveness and the demise of revenge as a noble trait.

·      A higher value was placed on human life, which led to the rejection of infanticide.

Which are the correct values? Is revenge or forgiveness a more noble trait? Does it just depend on your place in history?

For us in the Multicultural Western World of the 21st Century, not only are there a multitude of origins and paths to complicate our understanding of ‘what is right’. We also have centuries of thinking which has helped us understand the philosophy and patterns of thought, thanks to the great minds of Kant, Mills and others who spent their lives understanding ethics. 

This is where it gets complicated. It’s not just that we have different bases for beliefs, we also adhere to those beliefs in different ways.

For example, for my beliefs, I hold to Christian principles, and my ethics lean more to being deontological, rather than utilitarian (although I acknowledge so many good things that come out of utilitarian ethics).

A very crude summary of the difference between deontological and utilitarian ethics is:

• Deontological ethics values what is right

• Utilitarian ethics values what is good

Most in the business world don’t realise how much they owe their modus operandi to utilitarian ethics. Mills’, Principles of Political Economy was the first work that presented economics as a system and was to become the main vehicle for teaching economics in universities. It is the basis of economic rationalism which dominates our culture and has led to overarching philosophies or metanarratives such as:-

·      Whatever it takes; (the ends justifies the means) and

·      Cost Benefit Analysis

Deontological ethics holds that Right is Right no matter what the cost.

I admit that although my leanings are more to deontological ethics, I see immense value on the byproducts of utilitarianism such as cost benefit analysis. But even those who would claim to hold to utilitarian ethics will have a deontological button. That is, some point where they will say, “right is right”. They may be easy going and accommodating of differing viewpoints but are likely to be unmoving on a certain point. That one issue that is fixed and uncompromising in their mind.

Deontological or utilitarian are not terms in common usage. We would often use terms like principled for deontological, or flexible, rational or measured for utilitarian.

Organisations whose objectives are clearly stated, such as seeking to alleviate poverty or care for the environment are more likely to be staffed by people who hold to deontological ethics. However Utilitarianism has permeated almost every aspect of our outcomes based society in the 21st Century.

So much more could be said about values and ethics, but at the risk of leaving some of these explanations and examples as being too glib, it is important to get to the So What of this article. Part of the So What is that philosophies and teachings of ethics can be overwhelming. We therefore need to take time for greater understanding and clearer definitions of stated values.

This starts in the boardroom with strategic plans, missions and objectives and extends to shaping the culture of our workplaces through staff awareness and training.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2019 (December 4), that Australian classrooms are the least disciplined in the world. Australia ranked a lowly 70th out of 77 participating nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2018 index of disciplinary climate. In most countries, classroom discipline improved between 2009 and 2018, but, according to the OECD, Australia had deteriorated in this time. It should be noted that these statistics are from prior to the pandemic.

Although this can give us cause for concern, we need to acknowledge that we can’t just keep on doing the same thing. It should also spur us on to do what we can to remedy the situation. I am hopeful that we will see improvements in the next generation (Generation Alpha) partly through improved resilience (which can be a side benefit of the pandemic).

But we cannot ignore the downhill trajectory of declined values and the implication this will have on our workplaces in the future.

So what can we do about it?

• Don’t assume that everyone holds to the same values,

• Clearly explain the values we want to promote, and

• Model good values.