[Michael] I think a lot of the times people do share the same values, it's just
the way they approach those values is much different.
[Professor Mary Gentile] When the subject of values is raised
we will often hear two conflicting responses.
On the one hand some folks will say, "Well,
values are entirely relative, it really depends on your family,
your religion, your culture, your politics," et cetera.
There's no clear right or wrong because everyone sees the issues differently.
On the other hand, some other folks will say,
"Of course there are clear values and I know what they are,
and it really doesn't matter what you say or think."
Both of these positions, the entirely relativistic
and the entirely absolutist perspective, make it difficult to have a
real, meaningful
and constructive conversation about how to enact values in our careers
and our wider lives.
[Andrew] When I was in graduate school the first time,
I became friends with a student who was on a Fulbright scholarship from Pakistan.
We became friends to the extent that since he wasn't going to go back to
Pakistan during our brief Thanksgiving break, I invited him to come to
my parents' house in Virginia.
Though he did have very different kind of
cultural values and practices
than myself and my family, including not being allowed to shake females' hands…
We had a lot in common actually, and…
I think the specific
value that we shared—that I think is actually also an absolute value—
is that, education—which is what we were both studying
—is very important.
The first pillar of GVV
acknowledges that while cultural, political,
and religious differences do exist, research suggests that there still
are a set of widely shared, universal
hyper norms: values that seem to be espoused by most people
across time and culture.
This is good news!
A conversation about values is possible
because we all share common ground.
[Taylor] Across culture and across time, I think that there are values that we share just
mainly because there are values in being human.
[Evita] Things such as truthfulness, and the willingness to help.
[Michael] Honesty... loyalty is certainly another one.
Honesty, compassion, justice.
People value freedom.
This list of universal values is really, really short.
Things like honesty,
respect,
fairness,
compassion,
and therefore we should not assume too much commonality.
It's really important to strike some kind of balance between
what you were raised to do and what other people were raised to do.
But the fact that at the end of the day whether you were raised to be Christian,
and I was raised to be atheist—we are both human and we understand the value in being human,
and the value of protecting that humanity.
If we look at Robin Hood,
it's not right to steal, but what are they stealing for? What are they valuing?
They value helping those in need rather than allowing people who do not need things to keep them.
Our society and the society that we have been raised in
places value on property,
over, sometimes, people, over ethics and things like that, so I think it's important for us
to have a conversation about ethics,
to bring ethics back into the picture and to make people realize
that money is not the only thing that matters.
It is really important how we treat each other and things like that.
When we encounter a values conflict, first,
ask if it rises to the level of one of these core values.
To make sure that the conflict is not just a matter of personal style,
or preference, or comfort. But rather, that a true ethical principle is at stake.
Being from a Hispanic family,
my parents, our families stay very close,
and after graduation they expect me to go back home.
And, talking to white people,
it's very different with them, and I kind of…
identify more with that side now that
I've had the college experience.
I learned to value my independence and learned to value having the ability to set my own rules,
not having to follow my parents' rules.
But with me as woman,
they expect me to actually
not rebel and not say anything back to them,
and to follow their rules, so it's very difficult.
If the challenge does raise a core value, we can frame our approach to appeal
to the core values that most folks are likely to share.
So, for example, rather than framing a business ethics issue in terms that are
likely to only be meaningful to ourselves or to those who share
our particular cultural or industry norms,
we can talk, for example, about the potential impacts of the decision on others:
customers, or employees, the community,
and in this way implicitly appeal to shared values.
We have different world views and
if we want to all get along and deal with each other in a polite way,
then I think it's important we understand that
people have different views on things.
We learn from one another, and the perspectives that
each people bring can help broaden our own opinion.
I've just become, as I've grown older, more open
to just be engaging with people
when I have the opportunity.
Dialogue. It's just simply...
sitting at table and opening yourself up to
another person's views and…
perspectives on the issue at hand.
I think it's important to hold fast to the things that we value,
but it is also important
to realize that we may not be hold the absolute truth.