One of the conundrums of ethical decision making is that many moral decisions that are quite straightforward — even easy — to resolve in a classroom or during training exercises seem far more difficult to successfully resolve when confronted during actual day-to-day decision making.
Why It’s So Hard to Train Someone to Make an Ethical Decision
Many moral decisions that are easy to resolve in a classroom or during training exercises seem far more difficult to successfully resolve when they occur during actual day-to-day decision making. There are three reasons why making ethical decisions in the workplace is harder than in training simulations. First, in exercises, the consequential decision is identified for participants. The second factor is that training inevitably exposes different points of view and judgments. Finally, unlike in training, when a single decision might be given an hour of careful analysis, most actual decisions are made quickly and rely on intuition rather than careful, reflective reasoning. The challenge for organizations is to cultivate environments where ethical decisions are easier, not more difficult. Creating training exercises that better simulate the actual environment where ethical decisions are made is the first step toward addressing these critical challenges.