Ethical Dilemmas
A question came up in our Moose Herd the other day about how to handle situations when you’re looking or interviewing for a job, but discover the company doesn’t align with your ethics and/or principles. Leading to an ethical dilemma of sorts.
For example—
Healthcare companies that aren’t putting patient care first.
Companies that aren’t practicing their agile practices (walking their talk).
Companies that aren’t supporting DEI or diversity.
Companies that aren’t focused on balancing sustainability with profit.
I weighed in, as did quite a few others, but I left the Herd thinking about the dilemma that all of us face. That is balancing—
Our need to sustain ourselves and our families
against
How our ethics and principles align with those of the company or client.
One takeaway that I’ve been noodling on is that this is an incredibly personal decision. That is one where nobody else should judge or compare my handling of a scenario with their own or anyone else’s.
We each have a unique set of principles and ethics. And we each own how we apply them to ourselves, our employers, and beyond.
Some of us are incredibly fortunate to work in a place where there is strong alignment, while others are not.
Another key question is—how much do I have in the bank to offset the time it takes for a company to align perfectly with me? I’d consider that an element of our individual and unique context and privilege.
Wrapping Up
The big learning for me is that I need to be less judgmental in projecting my values and principles onto others. You’d think I’d have learned that after all these years, wouldn’t you?
Oh well, clearly, I’m still a work-in-progress.
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
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