Mary was a project manager for a leading project in a large enterprise. She was known to be practical and process-oriented and even more so when it came to understanding ethical dimensions of the project. This was a hallmark of her way of working and her team felt comfortable in her leadership. She had also been upfront in her communication to the leadership on her approach to some difficult project situations.
A recent event had disturbed this harmony though. Her actions were questioned by the senior management for one particular decision that she took in the keeping the ethical values of the project held high.
She felt that the senior management was not able to understand her point of view and that they were looking only at the financial and business value of the project.
Mary has tendered her resignation to the management and is about to inform her team.
Would love to know your thoughts.... Saving Changes...
Paul AzanorProject Consultant| Lagos NigeriaIkoyi, Lagos, Nigeria
What a difficult place to be.Mary is courageous and strong.
This is a common scenario that places out most of the time,where business and financial considerations takes precedence over ethical and quality issues.
This to me is an indication that this kind of management is two faced and can not be trusted. Saving Changes...
Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
What a great discussion-- hypothetical or not. Leadership is not always easy. Taking the high road can lead to internal struggles. As other said, I wonder if Mary had the courage to discuss her point of view with her management before she left? I found that it can be very difficult to stand up for what you believe when your management is against you.
I personally experienced a situation where a general manager of a large corporated degraded my team (and me) on a teleconference. I guess I could have let it slide, but I felt strongly that we had been wronged and I had to say something. I chose to respond back (outside of the teleconference) in a respectful (but forthright) way. In the end, he apologized for his outburst. It still was hurtful in what he said and the way he said it, but in the end, I am glad I spoke up. I was shaking the entire time. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Nov 10, 2019 3:22 PM
Replying to Eric Simms
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Mary was wise. It might be tempting for Mary to act unethically, perhaps believing the executives will reward her unethical behavior on their behalf with a promotion. However, leaders who do not prize ethical behavior cannot be trusted. They will happily reap the benefits of Mary’s actions (perhaps they will receive bigger bonuses), but if there are any legal repercussions for Mary’s actions the executives will decry Mary as an untrustworthy employee and loudly claim they had no knowledge of her actions.
I have worked with leadership like this, so I'm quite familiar with the thoughts of such individuals. The best course of action is to leave an organization like that as soon as possible.
You speak like somebody who has been there :)
I've been and from experience, I can say that naivety is your biggest enemy. For years I was naive enough to believe that if I continue to fight unethical behavior I could make a difference but I do not think it is possible, which I found out many many years too late. If your leadership supports and rewards unethical behavior then it is part of the company DNA and you have to cut off the head and most vital organs to fix it.
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1 reply by Luis Branco
Nov 11, 2019 2:18 PM
Luis Branco
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Dear Anton
We have here a popular saying that applies to this situation: "when the sea hits the rock, the mussel is harmed" :-)
Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Standing up for what is right is not always easy. Standing up when no one else is standing with you is not easy either! I appreciate all the comments from my respected colleagues and especially resonated with Kiron's words. What I have learned is that every time I have stood up for what is right, or have made a determination to leave a company/corporation because I was standing up for principle - something much better opened up for me. I hope this is the case for "Mary" as well! Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Nov 10, 2019 11:23 PM
Replying to Anton Oosthuizen
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You speak like somebody who has been there :)
I've been and from experience, I can say that naivety is your biggest enemy. For years I was naive enough to believe that if I continue to fight unethical behavior I could make a difference but I do not think it is possible, which I found out many many years too late. If your leadership supports and rewards unethical behavior then it is part of the company DNA and you have to cut off the head and most vital organs to fix it.
Dear Anton
We have here a popular saying that applies to this situation: "when the sea hits the rock, the mussel is harmed" :-) Saving Changes...
I assume that Mary did not just walk away but put in some effort to make management see the light? If so then I'm 100% with here on this. While this might be a hypothetical case the reality is that it is very common for management to expect project teams to walk the extra mile, take one for the team just so that they can add that extra dollar on the bottom line.
One thing she could have tried and that is escalating to the ethics committee (if they do have one) but that is not always guaranteed to work. I was in a situation once where management knowingly broke the law putting the project team in harm's way. The rot in this company was so deep that even the ethics committee refused to act. So every person must decide when it is time to walk away and better sooner than later.
Anton, thank you for your suggestion. I agree with you on informing the Ethics committee. I agree that every company has different norms. Thx Saving Changes...
I've been a "Mary" before so this scenario resonates strongly!
As the others have said, once you have done your best to educate senior leaders on the importance of acting ethically and you have confirmed that your not acting would have broken one or more of the rules within the consolidated sets of ethics (e.g. company, industry, PMI, individual) then it comes down to doing the right thing even though there may be short term consequences or taking the easy way out but paying for it in the long run.
Kiron
Kiron, I agree with you. This is a question of short vs long sightedness and a situation that we often come across. Thx Saving Changes...
Dear Deepa As you can see we built here a great solution proposal for Mary
It was only possible thanks to the contributions of all, namely: Anton Sergio Kiron Suneel Fabio Alexandre
What a show! You can come up with more challenges :-)
Thanks Luis. The discussion with some open ended thoughts helps us come up with broad suggestions and also fuels discussion. I am thankful to all the contributors to make this discussion insightful yet not truncated to one decision alone.
Thanks again! Saving Changes...
Amany NuseibehSpeaker, Global Leader | Optimal ConsultingSydney, Nsw, Australia
What an interesting and insightful discussion! Thank you Deepa for posting and all for sharing war stories.It seems like we all have been in Mary's shoes once or more in our life time, and that's why we are reading in between the lines and projecting our experiences.
If Mary's decision is not appreciated by the management as their priorities are financial, then Mary's values and moral compass might not be aligned with the company's values.
Is it likely that the ethical matter that she is dealing with will lead to legal implications in the future? and how would Mary feel if this ethical situation gets published on the first page of a tabloid/newspaper, facebook or twitter with her name as someone who particpated and/or took the ethical decision/ or the unethical decision?
It's never easy to go against the tide or speak up. However, it's always good to use a framework or an approach that would enable gathering the facts, anlysing and assessing, looking at options and weighing concequences. The Ethical Decision Making Framework on pmi.org/ethics might be able to provide Mary with some help. Saving Changes...
Jen Jee ChanManaging Director| DotProjects Pte LtdSingapore, Singapore
I'm with Mary... never compromise values and principles, because once you go down that road, it can easily spiral out of control.
Management will always be motivated slightly differently, they are incentivised in ways that sometimes require grey areas to be trampled on.
To me, walk the good walk and fight the good fight, if Mary has done all she could to find that balance and cannot do so, she should leave. Find a place that values or accepts the balance - she will then thrive. Saving Changes...
