Ethics Bistro

A couple of years ago in my last blog, right before being invaded by the pandemic, , I asked myself and the community about how to be more sustainable in this disruptive age, and answered myself that we are ready if we stick to our ethical values, as leaders.

After two years, where for some of us,  life and workstyles have changed, I have launched a discussion earlier in February 2022,   asking the community about how to navigate through the period after the pandemic.

I am sharing, in this blog, the interesting insights and ideas that were shared by the community.

Professionals and project management practitioners stated that “binding project work and deliverables with a ring of ethics is crucial to bring the value of those deliverables for the project. Regardless of the leadership styles of the project manager, upholding ethical values should be MANDATORY”.  

“With maturity and experience, basic ethical values are the key to a long term success, the power of a project manager comes from respect and trust achieved through honesty, fairness, transparency, and integrity.”

Moreover, there is an emphasis on creating a balance between the values to satisfy employers, the profession, and practitioners.

An interesting opinion to share with the readers is that what the globe is going through is not a transition, this is a long-time reality that was accelerated due to the pandemic. This is a continuation of the process of evolution. People are always transitioning while values are the only CONSTANT.

Before ending my blog, I want to share with you the story of my dear friend Albert Agbemenu:

I worked on a project last year during the peak of the pandemic. The project involved the design of some buildings and infrastructure for a new mine. Being the project manager, I initially thought it was going to be the most difficult assignment, especially so when I never had the opportunity to meet most of the team members with who I was going remotely work with.  The only platform we had to meet was virtually to review work and discuss reports. Part of the team was located in Australia whilst the others were here with me in Africa, but yet still not co-located. I was working from my small space on the dining table reaching out to the rest of the team (multicultural). One thing that was clear to every one of us from the outset was the need for having these ethical values. With that in mind, we were able to work across a time zone of 8 hours of difference. This routine continued for almost one year and the project was completed without any single conflict, due to the values we all carried along positively.

The story ends with a confirmation that living by these values is just as important in normal times as in uncertain periods.

These values should not only be dependent on a particular situation or period. They must be embedded in the sleeves of the diligent project manager. That said, these values should not be difficult to implement in a virtual project. Constantly upholding these ethical values should be a lifestyle of the project manager.

As a recap of what was said, top things to remember:

• Values and principles are constant through all times
• Values and principles start with the individual
• Values and principles are not tied to a specific profession
• Values and principles are the key to a balanced and successful journey

In light of what was said, one of the received feedback is that it is inevitable to find tools and techniques to make sure that right things are done promptly.

As an answer to this, PMI/EIT have created the PMI Practitioner Ethics Toolkit. The tool includes a rich set of resources to assist PMI practitioners understand, identify, and proactively manage ethical issues.

Finally, Honesty, trust, fairness, transparency, integrity are the values that will help us navigate through all times.

How many of us, as professionals are upholding those values? And how much the ecosystems we are operating inside are fostering the adoption of those values?

Last summer, back in July 2019, I was attending one of the largest technology users’ conferences in sunny San Diego-California, where the last slide of the keynote opening speech caught my eye and I kept thinking about it until writing this blog.

  _{Jack Dangermond (President and Owner of Esri) Closing note, Esri User Conference plenary session, July 2019, San Diego, California, USA} 

As a professional project manager, my work is part of something much larger. It is about driving ideas successfully by turning them into reality, using people skills and capabilities in a timely fashion. This is what the new PMI’s PROJECT ECONOMY™ is all about, and this is the future of the profession.

Being part of a larger system means that I am an active stakeholder, engaged in establishing the basis of a sustainable future, with its multiple faces: sustainable development, resilience, sustainable entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, etc.

There is no doubt that, with the multilateral processes in place, and levels of support incorporated; it is eminent to always calibrate the relationships with the environment we are living in. It is becoming more imperative to design and implement an inclusive global thriving society to ensure a better future.

Moreover, in this disruptive age, we are living in; where industries, disciplines and professions are constantly changing patterns and evolving competitively, striving to overcome the challenge of increasing the demand generation and getting ready to go to market; establishing the balance between personal life-profession-environment is not just a state of mind, but it is part of something much bigger, and getting it right matters a lot to realize a sustainable future.                                                          

_{https://pixabay.com/illustrations/questions-who-what-how-why-where-1328466/}

Saying that; and building on top of the fact that we are all already engaged to follow the trend; what could the drivers to realize a sustainable future? How to achieve this balance? What are the needed skills? What is the  required level of maturity? Is it only about adopting the latest technologies and/or embark on a digital transformation journey?  Is it enough to pursue more certifications in the field of innovation, change management, coaching, etc.?

While those are existential questions, perspectives of answers are different, and may vary from a context to another, from a culture to another, from a discipline to another, the most important common factor is the INDIVIDUALS themselves, with all what they possess in terms of own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. 

_{https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/rag-dolls-  one-blue_948225.htm#page=1&query=individual&position=2}                                          

Back to the slide mentioned earlier at the start of this text; after reading many times the requirements of achieving a sustainable future, my attention went to “Compassion, Ethics and Hard Work”, where I found more clarity, and got the appropriate answers. These include:

• Being sensitive and fair;
• Acting with justice and interdependence;
• Dealing with others on an equal dimension basis;
• Being skilled with empathy, patience, wisdom, kindness,  perseverance, warmth and resolve;
• Inspiring trust by the way decisions are taken;
• Having energy and commitment; and the list goes on.

_{https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/ethical.html? qview=40855487}                                                                                                       

 In my opinion, the answers above are what makes us READY for the challenges of realizing a sustainable future.

As a project manager, how do you implement this your professional environment?

How do we meet the standards that we set for ourselves?

Is there any reference, in the project management profession to benchmark the decisions we make?

^{YES, THERE ARE…. AND Only YOU Can Do This}

Please find below some useful links:

PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct  

PMI’s Ethical Decision-Making Framework

PMI’s Ethics in Project Management Page