Moral Dilemas @ Work

[Angel]

One of the benefits of working freelance for myself is that I have the option of taking what work I want and the option to turn down something I don't wish to take on.

That said I have yet to turn down a client - but at the moment I'm faced with a potential client who wishes to have something done that I disagree with highly. They're offering a hell of alot more money than I usually charge, not to mention the fact that I try to remain completely objective when I work on things for other people. I mean this is what I do for a living - should my personal morals interfere at all with that?

 

[TinaG13]

If it is something that is really going to affect you deep down to your soul, I'd say to not do it.

If it isn't really all that bad and it won't keep eating at you that you did it and you need the money, then I'd say go ahead and do it.

But, that is just me.

 

[KillerMuffin]

How much money is your morality worth? Cash for values? Could you live with yourself?

On the other hand, do you need the money that badly?

 

[TonyG]

You have mail.

 

[Angel]

It's nothing that would shatter my soul, but it's just something I disagree with strongly. I don't need the money that badly, because I have plenty of other clients to work with.

I just don't want to make a habit of turning people down just because of my opinions - I usually try to be objective only because it's a job.

But being that I feel so strongly I probably wouldn't be all that objective and not be able to give 100% into the job.

 

[Fleshmachine]

Morals have no place in business.

Business is business, never personal.

I have never let my morals interfere with business.

 

[willywanker]

Angel, working for yourself has its advantages and its drawbacks. I too am self employed and while my problems are not ususally of a moral nature, I understand what you are talking about.

My work involves designing custom homes. Often I am asked to draw something I know will not work out well as I have been asked to do it. I try to point out what this might mean for resale value, but in the end I always remind myself it is not my house.

Your situation sounds more complicated than this. Hope it works out for you. If you need an ear to bounce things off of, e-mail is below.

 

[Angel]

You have mail.

Thank you, very much. You have an answer back.

 

[Dillinger]

... at the moment I'm faced with a potential client who wishes to have something done that I disagree with highly.

I'd really have to know more - and you can email me if you want. It really comes down to the level of the disagreement with what it is they're asking you to do? And I'd have to know more about your stance on things... ultimately it comes down to what your values and priorities are and what you can live with - actually, not even "what you can live with" - but what sits comfortably enough with you that you can sleep at night.

For example - are they asking you to do a corporate web site and you happen to have a distaste for working for large corporation? Well - in my mind, at least, that's one of those - "Just how much money are you offering..." things...

Or is it, for example, an Anti-Abortion web site and you are Pro Choice? A much different question now - because that now comes down to your basic beliefs and personal ethics...

Of course, there are always those who will argue - "but if you don't do it, someone else will - take the money." --- again - what is the RIGHT thing for YOU.

Money isn't everything but it sure does make life a bit more comfortable.

 

[Angel]

Morals have no place in business.

Business is business, never personal.

I have never let my morals interfere with business.

I design webpages for people/businesses that need it done. If someone wished to hire me to design a webpage about *Killing Gay People* or *Why Black People Should Die*, I would NOT take the job. It's that simple.


This issue is nothing that dramatic, but it is still a conflict of interest and I'm unsure exactly what to do - however tony_gam gave me some excellent advice and I'm going to go with that for now and see where it leads.

 

[Fleshmachine]

When it comes to work I am a machine.

I leave the morality of it, up to the customer.

They are responsible for the morality, not me.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Suggestion for future reference:

Write down a list of things that cross the line that you wouldn't do, no matter what. Add a few things to it that you wouldn't do because it is just against what you stand for. If a client crosses this list, then you have a ready made method for deciding. It's not something spur of the moment and you can feel good about yourself.


Fleshmachine creature, you are, unfortunately, one of those people I hate with all the heinously nasty virulence of my soul. There is nothing worse than a creature, such as yourself, who sells all for the love of money, including the misery of others. Business without morality is the Firestone Debacle, the depleted rainforests, toxic waste dumped illegally, thousands of jobs cut because corporate fat cats don't want to lose their expense accounts and stock options. You are sludge with no redeeming value to humanity. Perhaps you ought to do the world a favor and partake of the evil you wreak.

 

[Fleshmachine]

KM as much as those words were meant to sting, I think I should explain my view.

Before my nervous breakdown, I made components for atomic bombs.

After my breakdown, I became intimately involved in the heroin trade.

Where do my morals fit in these two pictures?

Now, that I'm in therapy, I realized that I had to do, what needed to be done, for me to survive. No more , no less.

 

[Dillinger]

KillerMuffin is absolutely right.

Perhaps this might help. Just some general comments about values and beliefs - and how to know what is right for each of us, individually. Not meant to be a comment on anyone's assuredness that they already know themselves...

You must know who you are to determine your views about things. You must know what you believe and why you believe it to know when you're acting on the basis of your own beliefs and values...

Values provide a framework to sort out our beliefs and our behavior. Without criteria for judging what we thing is right or wrong - what's good or bad for us - we can't make independent judgements. Values are guides that help us know what's right and wrong and help us evaluate whether a certain course or action is the right one for us. To do this we must clarify what we care about and maintain a sharp focus on what's important to each of us, as individuals, so that we can make reasoned decisions that are right for us.

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something that one finds; it is something one creates. - Thomas S. Szasz

Its easy to talk about "values" in the abstract but pinpointing what our own particular values are is harder. Many of us have not thought explicitly about what is really important to us (I'm as guilty of this as anyone). We may only have a hazy notion of how our values affect our choices and our behavior.

Here is an excercise that might help clafiry what your values are... (this is from the book "Think For Yourself" by Dr. Sharon Presly)

Read the following list of values a few times and, as you do, notice how you respond to each. Select the 5 values most important to you. Think about what each one of these means to you. Take your time. Recall times when this value made a difference in your life. Feel free to add items to the list - its hardly exhaustive

Achievement
Assertiveness
Balance
Beauty
Being Loved
Chaos
Comfort
Competence
Control
Controversy
Creativity
Dominance
Equality
Exercise
Excellence
Excitement
Fairness
Family
Fathering
Fitness
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Generousity
Glamour
Happiness
Helping
Humor
Independence
Individualism
Inner Peace
Integrity
Intelligence
Justice
Learning
Leadership
Loving Another
Luxury
Mastery
Meaningfulness
Motherhood
Nature
Obedience
Order
Pain
Perfection
Pleasure
Politeness
Power
Purpose
Recognition
Rescuing
Respect
Risking
Salvation
Serving
Sexiness
Simplicity
Spirituality
Spontaneity
Sportsmanship
Teaching
Teamwork
Tolerence
Tradition
Truth
Uniqueness
Wealth
Weirdness
Winning
Wonder
Virginity
Wisdom
Work

How a value influences your daily decisions is a good measure of its importance to you. Begin with the first value important to you. With "1" being 'rarely' and "5" being 'frequently,' rate how often each of these statements is true of you.

1. My actions reflects this value.
2. I strive to achieve this value.
3. This value guides my actions.
4. This value helps me make decisions.
5. This value helps me evaluate concerns.
6. This value guides me in setting goals.
7. I think of ways to implement this value.

Do these exercises - then look at the question before you - in this case, should you take on this client and create the website? Would doing so go against the values that are important to you?

 

[CW]

Angel, working for yourself has its advantages and its drawbacks. I too am self employed and while my problems are not ususally of a moral nature, I understand what you are talking about.

My work involves designing custom homes. Often I am asked to draw something I know will not work out well as I have been asked to do it. I try to point out what this might mean for resale value, but in the end I always remind myself it is not my house.

Your situation sounds more complicated than this. Hope it works out for you. If you need an ear to bounce things off of, e-mail is below.

Jumping Jimminie Crickets,,, I'm glad that I read all the responses before typing mine as you have said almost word for word what I was going to post. Including the part about designing custom homes with the potential conflicts that arise for the clients.


And, as some excellent advice has been posted, I'll not add to it.

 

[dza]

there is a direct relationship between $ and the amount of bullshit i am willing to put up with on the job

 

[Angel]

Thank you Muff and Dill. You've both helped me tremendously.
I have until tomorrow to give him an answer, and we have an appointment to discuss my misgivings later on this evening.

I appreciate the help and the suggestions more than you know.

 

[lavender]

 

[Weird Harold]

...it is still a conflict of interest and I'm unsure exactly what to do ...

If you still feel like this when you reach the point where you must decide -- the answer is "I don't think I'm the person for this job."

If this were a decision on whether to take the job or go hungry it would be different. Since it's not, listen to the inner voice tht says, "This just isn't right."

 

[Expertise]

Or "check" your ethics and your coat at the door.

 

[unusuallyconfused]

I am in the business of recruiting people for jobs. I find people all over the country and help them find jobs and potentially relocate. If I had no morals, I would work for the group that prefers a white anglo saxon male with no history of sexual deviation, etc....... No gays, blacks, whatever. I could not and would not do that.

So, if they paid me twice or three times my normal fee and that would allow me to live for a year, mind you, would I do it? AT what price do you sell your morality. Is there a gray area. I tend to think in black and white. Couldn't and wouldn't ever do it no matter how much money I was bought to keep my ethics silent.

Barbara

 

[Angel]

Or "check" your ethics and your coat at the door.

I can't do that. I really can't do things that I would hate myself for in the long run. I wouldn't hate myself for this, but I feel that I am definitely the wrong person for this particular job. It is nothing earth shattering or soul-altering, yet my own convictions about the subject matter of the website he would like built move so strongly against his.

Could I live with myself after the job is done? Yes I could. However I quite honestly don't know if I would be capable in keeping any objectivity at all while doing the work - and that is definitely not a good thing.


Thank you all for your suggestions, the extremes, the compromises and everything in between