Dilemma
You are employed by a local planning authority to advise on the routing of a new freeway. Two alternative routes have already been proposed and your task is to evaluate them and recommend one route. Both have advantages and disadvantages from environmental, social and economic perspectives. On balance, however, you believe that Route A has slightly more benefits than Route B, though you concede it is extremely difficult to determine these accurately.
As you are drafting the report containing your recommendations, you realize to your horror that Route A will result in the demolition of your grandparents’ house. In the event that the freeway is built on this route, the government will compensate residents’ affected by any losses incurred, but you know that your grandfather will be deeply shocked by the loss of the house. He has a weak heart and may well not survive the news.
As you consider the implications of this decision, you reflect that the difference between Route A and Route B is minimal and you could with some justification present Route B as the more favorable option. What do you do?
Stakeholders
I have my professional credit and respect at stake.
Planning Authority has its reputation and contract at stake.
My colleagues in Planning Authority have their own professional reputation at stake.
Local citizens who pay tax to build this freeway and will use it in the future have their privilege at stake.
Government has its budget & trust & plan at stake.
My grandparents have their house at stake.
Other citizens who live in both routes have their houses at stake.
My Obligation to …
Myself? Is trying to choose the best route regarding to professional and moral rules.
Planning Authority? Is to evaluate and recommend a route just based on professional principles, to be honest as an employee and to do my job as accurate as possible.
My colleagues? Is to protect their corporational and professional identity and reputation.
Local citizens? Is to choose a route which is the best for them regarding to financial matters, City planning, Traffic & etc.
Government? Is to do recommend the most appropriate route and to be a true consultant.
My grandparents? Is to care about them and their emotions and possessions. To be a good person and citizen as their grand daughter.
Other citizens who live in both routes? Is to choose a route impartially.
Values at stake
Professional trust
Vocational credibility
Family relations
Citizenship principles
Ethical Principles
Be honest with your employer.
Do your job just based on professional regulations and codes of ethics.
Never let your personal benefits to interfere a professional judgment.
Protect your family and do your best for them.
Be a true citizen.
Approaches
Ends-Based:
I do not want to kill my grandpa. I choose route B.
I do not want to ruin my reputation. I choose route A.
Rules-Based:
I do what is the best for my family.
I do what is the best for this city and its citizens.
Care-Based:
I want to protect my employee and other citizens.
I want to protect my grandparents.
Tests
Colleague Test
If they find out that I chose my grandpa over my professional obligations, they will judge me as dishonest, inept and untrustworthy.
Mother Test
My mother will be very upset if something happen to my grandpa and I would be somehow responsible for his death. She may tell me to choose grandpa’s house.
•Which route will you choose ? and why ?
14 comments:
what would you do?
I choose route A and convince my grandparents that's their chance to do something beneficial for the society. If they don't agree, I still choose route A.
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now, you take this test:
Sigmund Freud's Priorities
Five things are happening in your house at the same time. In which sequence would you solve them?
1. The telephone is ringing!
2. The baby is crying!
3. Someone's knocking or calling you from the front door!
4. You hung the clothes out to dry and it is beginning to rain!
5. You left the tap on in the kitchen and the water is already overflowing!
In which sequence would you solve these problems?
Write the sequences and I will give the results after everyone answer.
You should give over your duty to make the decision on the ground that you have personal benefit on the matter. That's the way they do when a member of a jury has personal concerns in a case. (or at least it must be so!)
You could write down a neutral summary report without recommending either of the routes and ask a colleague to conclude.
By the way, will your grandpa really die if a route passes through his house?! I mean, come on! That's a shame. You should talk to him... or kill him.
Leili's test->
It depends on whether I'm in the kitchen or where.
A tentative order would be:
1. Tickle the baby.
2. Turn the tap off.
3. Open the door.
4. Answer the phone.
5. Forget the clothes.
or I may ask the person on the door to answer the phone and go to collect the clothes myself, or the other way around.
If I'm in the kitchen, I may do 1 and 2 in the reverse order.
5-2-4-3-1
well for Sara's professional dilemma, allow me to present a very effective iranian style solution [i have to warn you that may not conform too everybody's perception of the term 'ethical']:
My coleague in the planning authority is my mate - possibly my BAJENAGH - and we sit down together and decide to reject both routes A & B in favour of a route C where we have recently purchased some bare land and run-down properties; we'll also claim compensation for granny's house, just in case.
Believe me, that's as ethical as any other solution if not more!
"Believe me, that's as ethical as any other solution if not more!"
hehe... yeah, ethical... my a..
your what? arse? what's so unethical about that?! hahaha
The point was whether something is "ethical" is about as important as the colour of my buttocks. ;-)
Ethic is very subjective, you know.
"in case of conflict of interest you have to disclose the conflict of interest ( even if it is not benefiting you) to your employer. "
they do that because they cannot trust everybody to do the right thing, and because people(family, friends, relatives) are always expecting too much nonsense from us. I agree, that is the safest solution to that matter, but it does not erase the question. It is still there: will you or will you not?
okay, are you ready?
Here is the answer to the test:
Every individual point represents something in your
life.
1. Telephone represents Work
2. Baby represents Family
3. Door represents Friends
4. Clothes represent Money
5. Tap represents Sex
Your chosen sequence determines the priorities in your life.
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personally I think the test is a sham!! why? because I chose 5-4-3-2-1 and I refuse that I am a sick bastard!
I definitely choose Route B ! I don't care what my colleagues says or the others! honestly ! cuz my grandpa is more important to me ! i don want to live in the past, but if somebody wants to live in his or her past, let him/her to be! and i will help him cuz he is important to me. anything else, i don care!
To Sara:
I often think of it in this simplified way: One's mind consists of two complimentary parts: one does the reasoning, the other makes the feelings and emotions. The latter is the one that prefers something from the other, likes something or dislikes the other, etc. Normally, one uses the reasoning part to "see" the reality (causes and effects, logic and consequences), which the latter part is the one which makes the decision.
For example, I do the reasoning to "see" that
"If I eat chocolate I will get fat"
But then I "feel" that I'd rather have the huge joy of eating the chocolate even though it makes me fat.
Now, if somebody hires you to give him professional advice on a matter, he is most probably not interested in what you prefer or what you like. He expects you to use your expertise to do the reasoning, and "show" him the reality in a concise, precise and understandable manner.
Moral of the story: If you present route B as the better one, while your professional reasoning says route A is better, then you are cheating.
... and it makes me sick when somebody cheats the society in favour of her/his family.
ok I am late:), but my order for leili's freudian Q is:2,5,3,1,4...(promise it was before reading their meaning), as for Sara's q,real life is not as black and white as this question, first of all I agree with siamak that your grandpa will not "die" because of this, and second I guess either I would resign from the decision making or I would choose route A.
1) If I care about my work, job market is down, and I do not have ouside employment options, then I definitely choose "A" and help my granpa to find another place
2) If the job is not really attractive, I have better opportunitites, etc. then I have to think more ... still, I guess I would choose "A"
3) It is very hard to come up with a scenario that I choose "B" for my grandpa's. If we increase what is in stake, like me and my family all die because of route "A", then I choose "B" of course, at some point my individual preerence overcome all social responsibilities and so on
4) sequence: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
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