[Carolyn] Sometimes you just kind of have
a bad feeling in your stomach that something is wrong but you aren't sure
exactly what it is.
[Sonia] You just, you couldn't decide: "I'll sit this one out, maybe I won't say anything this time,"
and that can just build up and build up.
You know it's not easy, but I'm happy to say that I've had those situations
and I've had those opportunities to do the right thing.
[Professor Mary Gentile] Giving Voice to Values, or GVV,
is a new and innovative way of thinking about,
teaching about, and acting on our values
in our careers and in our wider lives.
Rather than focusing on trying to figure out what the right thing to do is
in any particular situation—an important question to be sure—
Giving Voice to Values asks a different question.
It asks: once I know what I think is right
how do I get it done? What should I say and to whom?
What information do I need to gather to be persuasive?
How can I frame my position so as to appeal to my audience?
And what are the typical objections or the pushback I can anticipate?
And then what will I say to respond to those arguments?
[Michael] So, I'm from Chicago and
I ended up in DC and now I'm in Texas where
my views on the environment and energy are
a little bit uncommon. And so when I find myself in a conversation surrounded by
a fair amount of conservatives
it's difficult to sort of stand up and really voice my values.
I don't like confrontation
I am, I can say things how they are but I don't like to be mean about it or
confrontational at all. And I'm more of an introvert so
I don't necessary like to talk up in meetings and say
"That's wrong!"
[Taylor] One of our biggest problems, you know, when dealing with other people is communication.
It's really tough to tell somebody; nobody wants to know that they're wrong.
It's really tough to tell somebody that you think what they're doing is wrong,
or why you feel like you're right.
So it's important to understand what the different perspectives are so that you
can have conversations and either
come to an alignment or at least make people aware
of the ethics that you're operating under and come to some sort of understanding,
if you are at a disagreement.
The idea behind Giving Voice to Values is that if we simply encounter a values conflict and someone asked us
"What would you do?"
We usually respond in one of two ways:
We may say, "Oh, I would do the right thing."
However, we know from research that people
often don't act as they say they would when it comes to ethical challenges in their real lives.
It's just not that easy!
On the other hand, we may assume a sort of devil's advocate position.
The more skeptical, or even cynical position,
arguing that the decision at hand may indeed raise an ethical challenge,
but it's just not possible to do anything other than to go along with the pressures.
Or we may even argue the situation isn't really wrong at all.
[Krupa] I think it's very noble for you to
think that you're always going to make the right decision, but I think a lot of
times when you are making
big move, big decisions it's important to step back and really look at
why you're making those choices, what's driving those choices, and how that's going to affect
the rest of the people that are involved.
With GVV we first ask,
what if you wanted to do the right thing
in a particular situation, and you believe you knew what it was,
how would you get it done effectively?
We call this the Giving Voice to Values thought experiment,
and it provides a chance to
literally prescript ourselves and create the most effective
action plan we can conceive of, and then to actually rehearse that script and plan.
I think scripting in advance helps you really identify exactly what you want to say.
Sometimes if you aren't sure how you're going to vocalize it when you actually
get into the situation and may
say something that you weren't expecting, or it's more difficult to get out your message,
it's helpful to have rehearsed it a little bit and
understand what your core message is
so that no matter how the conversation goes you know what
you want to get across and you can tailor your approach based on what
happens in the conversation, but knowing
what you want to say is really important before you go in if it's a difficult message.
This approach is based on the idea supported by research
that practice or rehearsal allows us to create
a kind of default behavior, a sort of
moral muscle memory that makes it easier and more likely that we can act ethically
and in alignment with our values when needed.
Talking about ethics and
communicating what our values are to each other opens our eyes to
different ways of looking at the exact same situation.
I think if you talk about it, then
you'll more likely act upon it.
Know what we stand for
either as an individual or as a society, and then in case
society doesn't meet your individual values,
know how to approach it or how to adapt to it or
how to challenge that situation.
There are ways to live ethically and to do the right thing,
and those lead to a better society in a better way of doing business and more
mutual respect between people,
which is important to talk about not only on campus but across all
society and something that we can all benefit from.
And as long as people see that there are people who are committed to
living ethically and behaving ethically
and maintaining a certain standard, then people realize
that it is a good thing to be ethical, that it is a good thing
to have those core values and not compromise on them.
There are seven pillars, or principles, of GVV
that support this process.
Let's take a look at them.