Try The Following Tests To Help Ensure Ethical Decision Making
- Law Test: This test asks whether lawbreaking is involved. If the answer is a clear yes then the issue becomes your willingness to adhere to the law. Often, however, the answer is less clear. Two laws may be in conflict. There may be a question of which applies to a particular case. If the law is clear and it is also clear one or more alternatives would involve breaking the law, then such action must be eradicated immediately.
- Front Page Test: How would you feel if what you are about to do showed up on the front page of your local paper tomorrow morning? If the headlines would make you uncomfortable then following through on this action would be a bad decision.
- Mom Test: The idea here is for your “mom” to represent any person of high moral character. Always work as though your name is on the side of the building and always behave as though your mother is in the room.
- Gut Test: Morally incorrect choices often give you that queasy feeling in your gut. We have all heard to “trust your gut instinct”. We all would be better served if we learned to follow this basic rule.
- Golden Rule Test: It asks you to test your actions by putting yourself in another’s shoes and consider how you would feel if you were the recipient, rather that the perpetrator of your actions. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” A good rule for life and business.
- Greatest Good Test: “Do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number.” Also known as the utilitarian principle. Ask yourself who will get hurt and who will be helped and by how much.
- Rule Test: If your action were to become a rule for all to follow would it be a good rule?
—Adapted from Steve Hallam’s Ethics in Leadership University of Akron
Comments
Post a Comment