Organizational Ethics: We Shouldn’t Have to Ask What to Do

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Ethics   Organizational Culture  

Over the past year or so, I have seen an increase in the number of people who have been reaching out to me for advice around subjects related to ethics. The general gist being: “Another project manager in my company has been doing this; what should I do?”

I have seen a similar increase in this type of post to social media as well, both professional sites and more consumer-focused. I don’t know if this reflects an increase in the instances of this kind of thing happening, or whether it is simply a greater willingness to talk about it. Either way, it’s concerning.

I recognize that this is still a relatively small issue. The vast majority of project managers behave ethically, just as the vast majority of every other function do. But that doesn’t mean that we can ignore the issue.

An unethical PM reflects on all of us. If that person is the first experience that individuals have with project management, they are going to assume that it is typical behavior. It also undermines the profession. If project management is to be respected, then it needs to be recognized as operating at the ultimate level of trust.

However, I don’t want this article to be about “PMs should be ethical.” Rather, I want to explore why so many people are reaching out for guidance on what to do about it. Because as far as I am concerned, that shouldn&…

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