Does Promoting Tolerance Promote Ethics?

In a previous post ("Ethics: Do They Exist?") I suggested that unethical behavior seems rampant because you and I are not publicly declaring our beliefs and behaving in a way that supports them. I posed several possible reasons why that might be so and promised to examine each one in coming posts. Here then, is reason number one:

Perhaps our society so strongly promotes tolerance that we avoid expressing our beliefs.

From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, the second definition of tolerance is:
sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own.

We hold up tolerance as a vital characteristic of our democratic society, but is it really tolerance that brings value? It is important to recognize the diverse beliefs we hold. It is important to openly discuss their merits and learn from each other. It is important to expose ourselves to different ways of thinking and behaving.

But to what end? The purpose of dialogue is not "indulgence for someone else's beliefs or practices," but rather development of stronger, more mature values and behavior. Questioning others' beliefs and behavior causes us to examine our own beliefs and behavior, and hopefully, to make a more informed decision about our ethics (that is, our application of beliefs to behavior).

Somehow, the idea of tolerance has taken on the meaning of tacit approval of others' beliefs and behavior. However, silent acceptance and approval does not build strong democracy. A strong, mature goverment by the people demands that we speak out and become involved. If we build a culture of tolerance defined by tacit approval of each other's beliefs and behaviors, we give up the opportunity to challenge each other, to sharpen each other, to learn from each other.

A culture of strong, mature ethics requires us to publicly declare our beliefs and to behave in a way that is consistent with them. We must then be humble and open enough to allow others to disagree, to challenge and to question us - and confident enough to enter into respectful, honest dialogue. Using that description of tolerance, I'm all for it.

We can neither afford wishy-washy avoidance nor aggressive oppression if we truly want to promote ethics.

- Bob Ryan, www.swimstartingwithme.com

Ethics and the HP Board

Hewlett Packard's Patricia Dunn is under fire for allegedly snooping on her fellow board members to discover the source of a leak that made public the board's luxurious meeting at some swanky spa. "Shame on Dunn," the media and many ethics experts are saying.

Excuse me, aren't we missing something here?

If Dunn indeed obtained board members' private phone records illegally she does deserve censure. But what are the ethical issues behind Dunn's behavior?

Seems to me that the HP board has a problem even closer to home. Posh meetings at expensive spas? Come on, have you learned nothing from reading the news the last couple of years?

HP needs to take a good look at its governance policies and procedures in light of how it best can serve its constituencies - HP shareholders, employees, customers, and vendors as well as the public. Why should someone have to "leak" information to get serious dialogue going around moral issues?

Corporate ethics is about more than getting caught. It's about defining a corporate culture and aligning all corporate behavior with who it says it is.

-Bob Ryan
www.swimstartingwithme.com

Ethics - Do They Exist?

I was telling a neighbor that SWiM - Starting with Me promotes ethics. His response was, "Are there any to promote?"

I've gotten a similar response numerous times, so I got to thinking, "Why do so many people think that ethics are disappearing?" To begin with, let's set the record straight. "Ethics" are neither good nor bad. Ethics is the choice of behavior based on one's beliefs. If someone believes they are entitled to what someone else has, their behavior may include stealing. If someone believes all good things come through hard work, their behavior will likely be hard work.

So ethics exist. No matter what.

The question people are really raising with their observation that ethics seem to be disappearing is why do we see so much "unethical" behavior (read, "behavior that doesn't match my beliefs")?

Complicated answers abound. But let me present a simple one for people to think about and react to: Unethical behavior seems rampant because you and I are not publicly declaring our beliefs and behaving in a way that supports them. Why not?

Here are several reasons, each of which I will talk about in coming posts.

Perhaps our society so strongly promotes tolerance that we avoid expressing our beliefs. Perhaps we are not doing a good job of examining our own beliefs.
Perhaps we are too concerned with our image.
Perhaps we are too weak.
Perhaps we really don't believe what we think we believe.

I'm very interested in what you all have to say about this subject. Please respond. The more people we get talking about ethics, the more conscious behavior we will see.

-Bob Ryan www.swimstartingwithme.com