Ethics and OD

This brings us to the notions of ethics. OD is not a “neutral zone” by any means. Our work is unavoidably affected by our values. It may be helpful to remember that when you are making changes in an organization, you are altering work that is often tied to people’s identities, their sense of who they are, and why their contributions matter. Although some people embrace change, for others, being asked to change their relationship with their work can feel enormously challenging. How we treat individuals, groups, and the organizational system itself often comes down to an equation as simple as it is complex—a mix of our values and our ethics.

One of the most powerful ways to work through (or even avoid) ethical dilemmas in OD work is communication. The more transparent you are about the changes—up front and as they unfold, the more complete your communication throughout the change process, the more honest and forthright you are, the more you listen to the perspectives and concerns of others, the less chance there is of ethical misconduct. Good two-way communication throughout the change process will help to ensure ethical behavior—on your part and by others—such as misrepresentation of your solutions, manipulation of data in an attempt to skew public opinion or hide problems, covering up skill and knowledge deficits, coercing people into making changes about which they have legitimate concerns, etc.

And always remember, if the change challenge is beyond your capabilities, the most ethical thing you can do is to admit this. This does not have to mean that you make yourself entirely vulnerable by confessing weakness, but it does mean that you need to be sufficiently candid about the limitations of your strengths to be able to build that team of complementary supporters who can help to ensure that you are successful. And if you are an outside consultant, it can mean that when all the pieces are not in place and you cannot negotiate them, you may have to walk away. It will be difficult, but it is an issue of integrity—yours. Your reputation will always be worth more than a single job where you are asked to compromise your ethics.

So the upshot of all this is, what are your ethical positions when it comes to this OD work? You may know some of the answers to this question now, but as we work through the course, remember to notice where you “draw the line in the sand” with regard to your ethical decision making.