Have an ethical dilemma? Maybe not!

Carlton Vogt's

Enterprise Ethics

Volume 4 Number 3 January 27, 2006

Have an ethical dilemma? Maybe not!

Not every dilemma involving ethics is an "ethical dilemma"

Suppose you're in charge of a large database of customer information. In collecting the information, your company has promised customers that their private data would never be revealed to a third party "under any circumstances."

One day, your boss informs you that management has decided to sell some of the information. You remind him of the promise the company made, and he reminds you that the promise contained the standard "escape clause" found in most privacy policies. You can unilaterally change the rules at any time by merely posting the change on your Web site. When you do, however, you don't expunge the data you have already received. As a result of the policy change, customers are simply free not to give you any more data.

The only way customers will know of this policy change is if they think to visit your Web site on a daily basis and drill down far enough to see the policy change amidst thousands of words of legal mumbo jumbo.

When you continue to object, your boss also reminds you that this deal to sell the valuable information will help the faltering bottom line. Even so, he tells you, layoffs might still be necessary, and he hints that those who aren't "team players" may not survive the next round of firings. You get the not-so-subtle hint.

So, you go to your favorite ethicist and report: "I have an ethical dilemma." Should you go against your ethical instincts or should you knuckle under and keep your job?

You favorite ethicist, if he's worth his salt, will sadly inform you that you really don't have an ethical dilemma. You are between a rock and a hard place. You have some tough decisions to make. And you may even have a dilemma. You just don't have an "ethical dilemma." What's the difference?

To some people it may seem like a trifling distinction or just semantic quibbling, but it's actually more important, mostly because our method for resolving the dilemma will differ.

A dilemma, the kind that most of us face occasionally, is merely a conflict in which we are forced to choose between two unappealing choices. Do you want to volunteer for an early "retirement from" your job, or do you want to take your chances and wait for layoffs? If the truth were told, you'd really like to keep working, but that may not be in the cards. That's a dilemma, and more people are facing it these days. Different people will solve the dilemma in different ways depending on their circumstances and their temperament.

An ethical dilemma differs in that it involves our ethical principles in conflict. We have to choose between A and B, and our ethical principles tell us that both A and B are wrong. And, not choosing is not an option.

An example I use frequently is to suppose you're out hiking in the woods with your children. A storm comes up unexpectedly. It starts snowing. You can't get back to the trail, the temperature drops, and you're not prepared for the conditions. Your kids are hungry and beginning to get very cold. You're stranded.

Suddenly you see a cottage. You can see through the windows that there is food, clothing and firewood, but it's boarded up and locked, and has warning signs all over it, telling people to stay out. "No trespassing. This means you. Do not enter under any circumstances. I don't care if your kids are cold and hungry." The owner is definitely not a people person, and he's made his wishes very well known. What do you do?

Most likely your ethical principles tell you not to break into someone's house, especially when they have made their wishes clear. On the other hand, you also recognize your very strong ethical obligation to provide for the safety of your children. So, now you're faced with an ethical dilemma. If you fulfill your ethical obligation to respect someone else's property, you will fail in your ethical obligation to protect your children. And vice versa.

For most people, the dilemma is easily solved. Your children come first. You take advantage of what the cottage has to offer, doing as little damage as possible. And, of course you're going to make some retribution to the owner for what you consume and to repair whatever damage you cause in breaking in.

The fact that for most people the dilemma is easily solved doesn't make it any less of an ethical dilemma. What allows you to solve it is your overarching ethical theory -- even if you don't consciously refer to that theory in making the decision. For many people, the solution is intuitive, but it helps to reflect on why you would make that decision. The answer you come up with will help you solve other ethical dilemmas where the answer isn't so clear.

Ethical theories -- whether they are consequentialist or deontological, or whether they're based on rights or duties -- provide the mechanism for solving conflicts among ethical principles. This is why it's important to reflect on ethics and your particular theory. Without that reflection, you run the risk of solving these dilemmas in an inconsistent way, or even making the wrong decision. Many times, what passes for "intuition" is really just self-interest.

While true ethical dilemmas may seem perplexing to some people, the fact that we have a method for sorting them out -- assuming we're done our homework -- makes them easier to solve than other dilemmas.

The situation with which I started this discussion is obviously not a true ethical dilemma, although it does involve ethics. You may feel a strong ethical obligation to refrain from participating in something you told customers you wouldn't do. However, there is no competing ethical obligation to do what your boss tells you or to continue working for this company -- not matter how much you may desire to keep your job.

But not being a true ethical dilemma makes it more difficult to decide. There are so many factors to consider. How much harm can be done to the customers by selling the data? What expectations did customers really have? What will happen to you if you oppose management? How likely is it you can get another job if you lose yours? Is the potential damage to the customers greater than the risk you will take in opposing management?

The answers to these questions are very different for each person and each situation. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The bottom line, however, is that it's not an "ethical dilemma." Very often, in these types of dilemmas, the ethics are quite clear. Doing one thing, when you have led people to believe you would behave differently, is wrong. The dilemma is whether you should refuse to take part, or whether the penalty you risk is justified by the magnitude of the wrongdoing.