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Rationalization: A Powerful Ethics Risk
By David Gebler, President, Skout Group LLC
As we witness the demonization of business executives in the mainstream press, we would be well advised to dig a little deeper before passing judgment. Faced with the same set of circumstances and in the same contextual setting, can any of us be so sure that we would have done things any differently? We cannot change the system if we don’t first understand what motivated the behavior we want to change.
Many of the corporate leaders who get into ethics trouble are otherwise honest people. They believe in the “Golden Rule” and assumed they would always do the right thing.
So what made them cross the line? Why do some people fall prey to temptation – ie money, power or cover-ups -- and others don’t? The answers lie in how well a leader prepares his motivational defenses.
The ladder to success requires a great deal of ambition. Leaders have to be assertive, if not aggressive, in meeting tough objectives and demanding the most of their people. Successful leaders are those who are able to balance a sincere desire to do the right thing with the drive to win. But like riding a unicycle, balancing can be challenging. When the values of integrity and success conflict, which can happen many times a day, how do leaders reconcile them?
The problem is, “balance” is not the right word to use, because this is really not a fair fight. Sitting in ambition’s corner is the power of rationalization. Rationalization is what allows us to devise self-satisfying -- but incorrect -- reasons for our behavior. We rationalize our actions all the time, even illegal ones, such as driving over the speed limit. But the greater the ambition, the stronger the power to find reasons to justify actions that we know are not the right -- or ethical -- ones.
Leaders face many options as they make decisions on how to meet a wide variety of goals. Taking the most cautious and risk-averse path is not what they are paid to do. They are expected to weigh the balance of risk and reward, but most often the bias is clearly weighted towards reward.
It can start out innocently enough. “If I have to wait until Form X is signed off on, we’ll miss the customer’s deadline.” Or how about, “I would never have stolen those documents from our competitor, but if they are in my inbox, am I expected to not open them?”
I once heard someone say, “Inside your head is a very dangerous neighborhood.” Left to our own devices, we spin a web of rationalizations that lets us believe the ends justify the means. And, as we have seen, the more powerful the ambition, the more shocking the rationalization, all the way up to the New York Governor’s hotel suite. That’s human nature and that’s not going to change. What we need to do is bolster our defenses. For example, in most instances we make these risk-reward calculations alone. How many times have we convinced ourselves of the justification for an action only to change our minds at even the thought of asking a loved one or trusted confidant what they thought about it? And yet many leaders see the act of seeking counsel as a sign of weakness or indecisiveness. They will often only raise the dilemma with subordinates who may be hesitant or fearful of questioning the boss’s judgment. Rationalization is very easy if you don’t get outside views from people you trust, and yet many leaders surround themselves only with “yes” men – and women. Political safety can actually become an ethics risk. This doesn’t make sense to me.
Intuitive leaders understand the need to seek the opinion of others before making close-call decisions. One of the hardest barriers many leaders strive to overcome is the recognition that asking for advice is a strength, not a weakness.
Forward-thinking companies have set up processes that channel managers to verbalize both sides of an issue before making decisions that could have ethical consequences.
Human nature isn’t going to change. But if we acknowledge it, we can do a better job of managing it.
As president of Skout Group LLC, David Gebler works with senior leadership teams to accurately measure what motivates and drives behavior in organizations, using those results to improve their performance. He can be reached at .
