Week 12A Blog
Professional Ethics and Social Change
This was a hard-hitting
series of papers. I think I enjoyed them? It was really eye-opening material.
I read with interest the
paper on ethics by Banaji et al (Banaji, Bazerman, & Chugh, 2003). I particularly
was interested in the explanation of implicit prejudice and over claiming
credit. Personally, I am not overly concerned with implicit bias. That is the
type of bias I believe that most people have. The fact that it is unconscious is
problematic, but not worrying. This is the type of bias I feel we should be
educating the masses about while understanding that implicit bias is not the
fault of the holder so long as the individual’s mindset is such that, as
discovered, that bias will be stamped out. Overclaiming credit is one that has
frustrated me for many years. I am the type of person that is just happy to
have a project done, others can take any credit they feel. That being said, it
is also important in business not to undersell yourself either. Where one falls
in this spectrum is the question, I guess. I also think that this bias is a
little insidious as it is difficult to know how much effort an individual put
into a project. If someone put 100% of themselves into 45% of a project, and
the other put 30% of themselves into 55% of the project, who gets to claim the
bigger piece of the pie? What about a project where 1 person did 10% of the
project and another did 90%, but without the 10%, the 90% would have been absolutely
worthless? Who gets the greater glory? It is certainly easy to see how people
might overclaim credit.
I was also enthralled by the
Guerra article (Guerra, 2006). My favorite quote of the all the readings came
from page 1025, “Ignorance of [the factors that lead to professionally sound
and ethical decisions] is not a valid justification for poor decisions”.
I also liked the thought, “the
morally correct action is that which results in the greatest good for the
greatest number” (p1027). I think it can be very difficult sometimes, especially
if one is outside of one’s own culture, to make a moral, ethical choice. I
think this quote would be the most defensible position to take as I reflect on
the many cultures and countries of which I have participated in and with.
-Kevin
Banaji, M. R., Bazerman, M. H., & Chugh, D. (2003). How {Un) ethical Are. Harvard Business Review.
Guerra, I. J. (2006). Standards and ethics in human performance technology. Handbook of human performance technology: Principles, practices, and potential, 1024-1046.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your insights into this week’s topic on ethics. You made some great points in your post. It can be difficult to judge ethics when one’s view or culture may impact what they believe to be morally right. Your examples on overclaiming made me pause. You are right these examples would make it difficult for anyone to judge who should receive the most credit. I like the quote you ended with, “the morally correct action is that which results in the greatest good for the greatest number.” Maybe this is the best way to judge what is the most morally correct action.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post this week on ethics in the IST field. You provided a lot of thoughtful insights. I also loved this quote that you provided from the Guerra: “Ignorance of [the factors that lead to professionally sound and ethical decisions] is not a valid justification for poor decisions”. You are absolutely right that making ethical decisions can be more morally ambiguous than is portrayed in some of our readings. Ethical decisions can be so dependent, like you said, on the mores and norms of the culture. Ethics are a complex philosophical issue. I look forward to further examining the ethical considerations of the fields of instructional design and technology as I continue on in the IST program.
-Shanna Sanders
Kevin, as always, a real time view of your world. I think the amount of effort is not necessary a good indicator of how much work or credit should be claimed. Some people are skilled at certain things so they can do it quickly. Other people are sticklers for detail and will always correct everyone's work. It is when you get the people who only do work when they are highlighted or people who fail to do the work they had promised that I have issues. In my last degree program, we had some people who obviously did not understand team contribution. They did not show up to meetings and providing very little input to projects. It was easy to recognize because they were the individuals left in a group after a project. My group picked up a person who had the same concerns about doing all of the work and calling it a team effort. That person was great and team did very well.
ReplyDeleteEthics is always a challenging subject. When is it ethical to lie? Should you lie to protect your life or keep good people from getting into trouble after doing something bad to a bad individual? I had gone through ethical training for at least two decades of my military career. We are sometimes put into dilemmas that test our character and friendships.
Ed