The Ethics of Harry Potter
From the Ethics Bistro Blog
by Tara Leparulo,
Shenila Shahabuddin, Juan Posada Toro, Yannick Arekion, Albert Agbemenu, Kannan Ganesan, Ming Yeung, Laszlo J. Kremmer MBA, CSPO®, CSM®, PMP®, Stelian ROMAN, Witold Hendrysiak
We all tackle ethical dilemmas. Wrong decisions can break careers. Which are the key challenges faced? What are some likely solutions? Where can we find effective tools? Who can apply these and why? Dry, theoretical discussions don't help. Join us for lively, light conversations to learn, share and grow!
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A few days ago I was with a friend from my University in a cafeteria in Milan, Italy.
He was talking about his projects and his technical knowledge; he is indeed one of the smartest and brilliant minds I know.
Then, he referred to a possible ethical dilemma he felt, and his ability to act right away.
Let me quote Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities,” I told him.
He laughed out loud: “Are you really quoting Harry Potter? And what’s that all about”?
I explained to him the personal meaning I give to this quote; one of the essential abilities a manager has is not only what he/she knows and does, but the choices made.
A recent HBR study(1) showed that most of the people are quicker to judge than they think, and they use lesser information than needed.
This can be especially critical when facing an ethical dilemma: you need to make sure to have all the facts and approach it in a structured way.
The ethical decision-making process is a cognitive process where people consider ethical rules, principles, and guidelines when making decisions.
PMI has developed a tool to support and guide all the project managers for critical thinking throughout the ethical decision-making process.
You can find the process in the image below:
And the full tool with supporting questions (in 15 languages) is here: https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics/code
As you can see, taking the right decision needs time: to collect all the fact, to consider the choices, to identify and test the candidate decision, to make a decision.
Even Harry Potter takes bad decisions when he doesn’t take time to think!
In the Potter-world, it is often cited the fact that he could have saved himself a lot of dread if he had just taken a moment to think and asked Ginny for help. In the book “Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix” he isolates from the one person nearby who knew what it was like to be possessed by Voldermort.
Ultimately, ethical choices diminish risk, advance positive results, increase trust, determine long term success and build reputations (2).
Leadership is absolutely dependent on ethical choices.
“... and that’s why I quoted the book”.
He smiled at me and said that two espressos were on him. That was the real magic because he is usually a bit stingy.
--- - ---
DISCLAIMER: The photo was taken by myself to a toy I own
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
- https://hbr.org/2019/03/we-use-less-information-to-make-decisions-than-we-think
- www.pmi.org/ethics
Posted
by
Fabio Rigamonti
on: November 17, 2019 04:11 AM |
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Luis Branco
CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª
Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Fabio
This reflection on ethics, leadership, decisions and results in the medium and long term is very interesting.
Thanks for sharing
The tool made available to us by PMI is powerful
Do all people connect with their consciousness before making a decision?
Thanks for the feedback, Luis.
I think Decision-Making skills in general, and ethical in particular, are to be developed by anyone in a leadership position.
People are quick to judge, biased by their emotions, rather than making strategic, long-term decisions.
Luis Branco
CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª
Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Dear Fabio:
I absolutely agree with you: "I think Decision-Making skills in general, and ethical in particular, are to be developed by anyone in a leadership position"
Thanks again for your reflection and for sharing
Kavitha Gunasekaran
Project Manager| Aerospace & Defence Organisation
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
The perfect analogy to a much deeper message. Ethical dilemmas are a given in any organisation and the process seems very helpful. Thank you for sharing and relating ethics to Harry Potter.
Kavitha
Dear Kavitha, thanks for the feedback; are you too a Potter fan?
The EDMF is very well done, especially triggering new questions and ideas.
Can't say that I'm a Harry Potter fan, but the lesson here is an important one. Thanks Fabio.
Dear Sante, thanks for the feedback.
As you wrote, here the important part is how we -project leaders- make sure we take the right decisions, especially when related to ethics.
The EDMF is a strong and valid tool.
It's a pretty good framework.
A great piece Fabio, thank you for sharing.
"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it." ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Dear Julie, thanks for this great quote!
I think questions are an even greater source of magic on considering all our alternatives.
Thanks Eduin!
Make sure to check the EDMF here: https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics/code
Thanks very much for this great reflection. As project managers we should be not only skilled in our technical knowledge, but also in decision-making techniques, considering always ethical aspects, that are the primary basis of adequate human relationships.
Dear Verònica, very well said: indeed, project leaders must be skilled in decision-making technique.
Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Great post Fabrio, loved the analogy and thanks for sharing the info.
In my opinion, no matter how much we analyze and take time, we still do make mistakes sometimes and that's how we learn echoing the famous quote:
"Good Judgement comes from Experience & Experience comes from Bad Judgement"
RK
Thanks for your feedback, Rami.
We cannot guarantee not to make mistakes, but we have to ensure to make the best unbiased decisions we can with the info we have at the time.
PS: Love your quote!
Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates
New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
I totally agree with you Fabio - Ethics are very important in everything.
I especially love the "test your validity step". Gathering as much data as you can to support your decision removes subjectivity. Hey, even Harry needed data to convince the Wizarding World that he wasn't nuts.
Thanks, Tia!
I agree: we need to remove subjectivity as in your mention of HP by collecting ALL the data
Dear Fabio
Thanks for sharing this is a message for every one
What if we all connect with consciousness before making a decision?
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