Alankar KarpeProject and program management, Speaker and mentor | WiproBangalore, India
Values are our principles and standards of behavior, our judgement of what is important to us and the best way to live. Have you ever faced a situation where you have to choose between your values and your job? What did you do? Saving Changes...
Valerie Denney Associate Professor| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University- WorldwideCleveland, Sc, United States
Alankar,
Thanks for the thought provoking conversation.
As you said, values are our principles and standards of behavior.
Ethical decision-making instantiates our values.
Here is one example that I clearly remember from a long time ago. I was a project manager working on a huge program acquisition. As project manager, I was responsible for coordinating the cost estimate for my portion of the program. During reviews, the program manager and other executives issued challenges to each of the projects to reduce the estimated cost. This was fine, except after a few rounds of cuts, the price to be submitted was not low enough (according to the leaders) and the statement was made that everyone needed to take another 15% cut..... for the team. We looked again to see what could be reduced--- after all estimates have uncertainty, but we just could not get to the 15% additional (I think we were able to get another 6% out). It came down to me standing my ground and refusing to cut any further. I made it known that either my inputs (which had solid justifications) needed to stand, or they needed to find another manager. Bottom line, my estimates stayed and I remained in that job. Saving Changes...
Alankar KarpeProject and program management, Speaker and mentor | WiproBangalore, India
Feb 10, 2020 11:35 AM
Replying to Scott Theus
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Hi Alankar,
As Kiron and others have noted, there are lines that we, as ethical PMs and good corporate citizens, should not cross. But, values and ethics are painted in shades of gray; they are rarely black and white.
When an "values" comes up I ask myself first, is it ethical? Are there differences between the global ethics, the ethical guidelines of my country/culture and the ethics of the local region or organization that are at play? Finally, what is it about my personal values that are making me uncomfortable with it?
If the organization is behaving unethically, then I'd report it before I left the job and where possible work to correct the behavior. If the behavior was culturally ethical but a violation of my personal values to such a degree that I could not in good conscience work condone the behavior, then I'd look for a new position.
-Scott
Thank you for your response! Saving Changes...
Alankar KarpeProject and program management, Speaker and mentor | WiproBangalore, India
Feb 11, 2020 3:28 AM
Replying to Eduard Hernandez
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The pharmaceutical industry is very regulated in terms of code of conduct, data integrity, etc. Therefore, "opportunities" to deviate from good practices (GxP) are scarce.
I've walked away at least twice from lucrative jobs because they would have required me to cross my own lines. While there was some short term pain in finding a new role or gig, I avoided the long term pain of not being able to look at myself in the mirror.
Kiron
Agree and I also think courage is critical to long term career happiness and being able to have clear conscious. Saving Changes...
I had this situation on several occasions, whereas being the project manager, I was asked to agree to commitments that I could not keep. By not agreeing, several substantial contracts were almost lost. The commitments asked to be made were accepting customer due dates that were impossible to meet without a substantial increase in price. Additionally, the designs proposed would not support the customers stated requirements. Fortunately, and not surprisingly my manager supported my position and did not fold to the pressure of the sales executives. He had strong feelings for doing the right thing and would not compromise those values nor would he allow his people to do something he would not. We withstood internal conflicts within the organization, and as a result, we changed a company policy for the approval of our projects. As a result, we reversed a trend of losing money or having unacceptable margins. Organizationally we began to turn a profit with increasingly good margins. We developed trust and respect from our customers and also gained the same from our once opposing sales teams and helped them become more successful. The accelerated delivery dates were never a requirement from the customer, but dates the sales organization promised to win the business. The poor designs were a result of not fully understanding the customer’s needs and a rush to put a competitive number on the table not supporting the cost or expected margins
Moral of the story, speak up, always tell the truth and do the right thing based on having facts and information. Complaining without data is whining. And not speaking up everyone loses. If you must compromise your character, to keep your job, that job is not worth keeping. Having good ethics is good for business and for your peace of mind. Saving Changes...
