There are two types of decision-makers. Which one are you?
Are you someone who has values or someone who doesn’t?
Badaracco, a Harvard professor of ethics, gives five questions to help you deal with morally “grey” areas. We all like questions to help guide our decision-making. What questions we use says as much about us. Are we values-based or, well, not?
Let’s look at his questions.
- What are the net, net consequences of my actions? Remember Sam Bankman-Fried? Well, he was going to save the world with his wealth, eventually. That was the net, net consequence. There is nothing nobler. He just had to play with the numbers a bit. It’s a small price to pay to save the world. Except that he didn’t save the world. Instead, he’s serving 25 years in prison for fraud. Like Sam, I don’t have a crystal ball. Life is uncertain. This question is simply not useful to anyone. It certainly didn’t help Sam.
- What are my core obligations? This is about values, right? I mean, here, you might want to think about your own stakeholders, such as your family and friends, or about your contractual obligations to your company. But, by limiting your question to just your core obligations, you are blocking out all of your other obligations. If you are values-based, you will want to consider all your obligations, not just your core obligations. If you find this question useful, you are a pragmatist.
- What will work in the world as it is? Really? What does this have to do with values? If we look at the world as it is, then… well, I don’t want to depress you by bringing up the wars, climate crisis, increasing wealth divides, and other problems, so let’s just say, when faced with two decisions, the decision that ignores values, is probably more likely to “work in the world as it is”. Now, if you’re a person of values, you might be thinking of changing the world as it is. You might think that the world as it is not how it ought to be. So, good for you. You’re a person of values. I’ll back you. If you’re looking for what will work in the world as it is, you are a pragmatist.
- Who are we? If, at this stage, you look to the company’s statement of values, you are not a person of values. But good for you on approaching the corporate handbook. For those who don’t need this question, you are a person of values.
- What can I live with? If you need this question, you are not a person of values. Seriously, could the bar possibly be any lower? What can I live with? If you’re at the stage when you’re asking yourself whether you can live with a decision, you’ve gone way too far. Put down whatever it is you’re doing. Go talk to an ordinary person. Buy lunch for a hungry person. Give a coin to a child. Rethink your life. Rethink your career. Rethink who you surround yourself with. Think about how you’ve strayed so far from your sense of self that you are now at the very limits of your own self, wondering whether the evil you are about to do will make it impossible for even you to live with it.
So, which are you? Are you a person of values or someone who uses Badaracco’s decision-making techniques to justify the evil you unleash on the world in the name of pragmatism?