Isn’t it crazy, how, almost every day in SA we open newspapers to read of still more corruption or people who think only of themselves, acting only in their own interests?
It amazes me that the Lynne Browns of this world don’t seem to care what the unethical actions they’ve committed in dark corners look like as news headlines.
I started my working life as a newspaper journalist in Port Elizabeth. I telephoned and personally interviewed many willing and unwilling persons for information so that I could write the reports I was tasked to. It made me wonder then, as I do now, about the way people differ.
Some were self-promoters and could not wait to get their side of a story told.
Some ducked and dived, and seemed really reluctant to make their opinion or the facts of the case, available. And sometimes with good reason: their decisions or actions were at best, poorly advised, and at worst, criminal, wrong, to the detriment of others.
They knew that, once investigated and written about, their behaviour would not look good when exposed to public view.
Since my early working days, I’ve often used the question, “What would it look like on the front page?” to (in my mind) assess whether I’d be proud to have my behaviour or decisions scrutinised by others.
Which brings me to my point that, in this volatile, complex and ambiguous world, it feels as if big decisions and responses frequently have to be made fast.
It’s useful to apply a Rule of Thumb when – in that tense moment of weighing up options – you’re trying to choose an appropriate, ethical solution.
There are lots of ethical decision-making frameworks to determine the moral soundness of a decision.
One that is easy and works well is what I call the four-finger test. It ends with the newspaper headline question:
About the proposed course of action, ask yourself:
- Is it legal?
- Does it meet all the standards (your personal standards, the values and rules of the company, or of the school?)
- Is it fair to all stakeholders? Rossouw (2015, 164) suggests that you can use your moral imagination, “identifying all those who might be affected, and then putting yourself in their shoes . . . to get an idea of how the decisions would be experienced from their perspective”.
- What will it look like on the front page of City Press or The Sunday Times or The Mail & Guardian? Can it be disclosed? You may also want to ask yourself what the most significant person(s) in your life would say if they knew about your decision. “Would I feel morally comfortable if they know what I am about to do?” (Rossouw 2015, 165).
References
Rossouw, G. 2015. Business Ethics fifth edition. Cape Town: Oxford University Press
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