Ethics: Bridging Culture and Compliance was the theme for EthicsGame workshops at two recent conferences, the 108th Annual Meeting for the National Association of State Board of Accountancy and Corporate Learning Week 2015. Both workshops explored how to help people recognize an ethical dilemma and then use multiple ethical perspectives to resolve the problem.
The culture of a profession or organization―the unspoken rules about how things are done―forms one end of the bridge. Culture can either support people in bringing their best selves to work or create conditions of fear, anxiety, or apathy that can poison the workplace. As individuals know both their own ethical values and then how to respect and honor the ethical perspectives of others, the organizational culture can be strengthened.
The other end of the bridge, learning how to play within the rules―compliance―helps create a community in which individuals and organizations can thrive. But if a person doesn’t know why the rules are in place―the value priorities that led to the principle―organizational decision making can be stifled. People become fixated on following the letter of the existing law instead of watching for changes on the horizon that may require a different approach.
Ethics―the way that one translates values into action―bridges culture and compliance by helping us consider our core values and commitments and then learn how to choose a wise course of action when those values are in tension. The bridge has five key steps:
- Be attentive: What is going on in your environment? What is your “programming”? Where are your biases? What are others around you doing?
- Be intelligent: What are the ethical values that govern your life? What are your personal non-negotiables? What are the commitments of your organization? Your profession?
- Be reasonable: As you consider both yourself and others, as you engage both your head and your heart, what are ways that you can leverage your ethical strengths (and avoid your ethical blind spots) in order to be the best person that you can be while inspiring and leading others to be their best selves as well?
- Be responsible: What is going on in your environment? What is your “programming”? Where are your biases? What are others around you doing?
- Be reflective: What needs to be done? Where did you succeed? Where did you miss the mark? And, how do you pull up your socks and move into the world with courage and love?
Ethics: Bridging Culture and Compliance was the As an ethics educator, you have the opportunity to teach people how to thoughtfully evaluate their values, leverage their ethical strengths, neutralize their ethical weaknesses, and make wise decisions in order to better live a life of meaning and purpose. With thoughtfulness and committed action, the ethics of individuals and organizations can provide the bridge between meaningful compliance and a thriving culture.