CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
November 1998, Vol. 40, No. 10
Do we filter the public access Internet work stations in the children's services department to protect impressionable young minds from pornography? Or, do we resist this betrayal of intellectual freedom to the bitter end, no matter the cost?People of my generation grew up believing that the "defining moments" of our lives would be those in which we would have to choose between an alternative that was easy, profitable, desirable, tempting, and CLEARLY WRONG, and another alternative that was difficult, unpopular, unpleasant, and ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Our elders prepared us to resist temptation, and to stand up for Motherhood, the flag, and apple pie. Our Library Science professors and the American Library Association groomed us to resist censorship in all forms.
My generation inherited the wisdom of Walt Disney's Davy Crockett, "Be sure you're right, and then go ahead." Usually, over the years, most of us did the right thing when we were confronted with two alternatives, one of which was clearly right, and the other clearly wrong. Most of the time, such decisions were not all that difficult to make. Living with the consequences was the tough part. When we did the "wrong" thing, we either enjoyed our ill-gotten gain or suffered pangs of conscience. Frequently, we both enjoyed and suffered. When we did the "right" thing, we felt a little envy seeing others profit from turning their backs on morality, conscience, or duty.
In contrast, we found the really tough decisions to be the ones where right and wrong were not clear-cut, where we were asked to forsake one value, not for a big payoff, but for another value. These were the challenging instances where, no matter what we decided, just as many objective, decent, ethical women and men would sincerely disagree with us, as would genuinely agree. For Joseph L. Badaracco, these "right versus right" conundra are the defining moments for individuals, for managers, and for organizations.
So, how do you choose among competing values? Alas, Dr. Badaracco offers no algorithm, no flow chart, no one-size-fits-all maxim to make the decision for us. Instead, he helps the reader to understand the elements that must go into making right vs. right decisions. He forces us to reflect on who we are, where we work, and what we seek to become.
He legitimizes viewing a decision from multiple perspectives. For example, he presents us with examples of difficult decisions that are being made at several levels within larger organizations. At the individual level, a black man who is a rising "star" in investment banking must decide how to respond to an invitation to attend an important presentation to a potential customer. Because he has had no part in developing the proposal to be presented, he suspects that he is being included solely because of his skin color. His response is well thought out, and the author analyzes it as a model for individual decision-making.
Managers, however, have broader responsibilities than newly-hired investment bankers. Their decisions must reflect the values, goals, and cultures of their companies, as well as their own personal values. Badaracco illustrates this with a middle manager who tries to assist a divorced mother keep her job, despite lagging performance and a supervisor who has recommended her termination. The manager's commitments to the employee and to the value of a family-friendly workplace are sincere. However, he fails to appreciate that these are his values, not those of the company. The manager's ill-advised effort results in the firing of the single mother, a major setback for the manager's campaign to provide a more supportive work environment at his company.
Badaracco's final case study is the most complex. It involves personal and corporate values, cultural sensitivity, political maneuvers, and moral courage. This is the story of Edouard Sakiz, Chairman of the French pharmaceutical company Roussel-Uclaf. Dr. Sakiz was responsible for deciding if, and when, his company would introduce and market a new drug that it had developed. The drug was RU 486, what we in the U.S. call "the French abortion pill." Whatever your personal values, you will be intrigued by the author's analysis of the long, twisting, yet patient path taken by Sakiz and RU 486.
This book of under 140 pages distills, from some of the world's great thinkers, insights and principles that can help every manager. The reader need not understand Sartre, Chester Barnard, Aristotle, John Dewey, Nietsche, Machiavelli, and William James to follow Badaracco. The author has done the reading, digesting, and highlighting for us.
As for filtering the children's computers, Badaracco might suggest that we reflect on our individual, professional, and organizational values before vilifying anyone with a dissenting point of view. Our dissenters, too, may have a claim on RIGHT.
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