A Spirituality of Engagement:
7 Questions for Good Moral Decision-making
James L. Nolan
St. Paul’s College
Winnipeg, Manitoba
November 22, 1999
A Widespread Spiritual Yearning
Perhaps you saw the Business Week cover story earlier this month on "Religion in the Workplace." (Business Week. November 1, 1999 pp 151-158) The story began with a picture showing a Milwaukee attorney kneeling on a prayer rug in his office. "Along with their briefcases and laptops, people are bringing their faith to work," the story claimed. It quoted Harvard University’s Laura Nash, author of Believers in Business, who said that"spirituality in the workplace is exploding."
A recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune also reported that "spirituality is finding its way into the American workplace, with employees at the country’s largest corporations organizing prayer and meditation breaks with colleagues and incorporating personal beliefs into their company’s philosophy." The Star Tribune identified two trends driving the emergence of spirituality in the workplace: (1) a widespread spiritual yearning and (2) a concern about the dehumanizing effects of technology.
These reports, and others like them, confirm that something new is going on at the workplace, something unusual. They document attempts to address what they see as a widespread spiritual yearning. They are trying to get a handle on just what’s afoot here. In the process, they try to name its causes and highlight what are seen as possible dangers.
Over this past summer MIT’s Sloan Management Review featured an article "A Study of Spirituality in the Workplace." Its authors, Ian Mitroff and Elizabeth Denton, reported the results of extensive interviews with senior executives and polling of human resource executives and managers. Their work is now out in a book out called, A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America. Among their conclusions, they say that:
People are hungry for way in which to practice spirituality in the workplace without offending their coworkers or causing acrimony. They believe strongly that unless organizations learn how to harness the "whole person" and the immense spiritual energy that is at the core of everyone, they will not be able to produce would-class products and services. (Sloan Management Review, Summer 1999. pp.83-84).
Perhaps you have experienced this phenomenon yourselves or with your own colleagues. Stephen J. Porth, management professor at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, observed that the terms spirit, soul, and religion are increasingly finding their ways into the language of business. (Stephen J. Porth, Spirit, Religion and Business Ethics: A Crossroads? Journal of Human Values, New Delhi/Thousand Oaks/London: Sage Publications, 1997, 3:1, pp.33-44.) What he calls "a spirituality and business movement." is being driven by concerned individuals attempting to integrate their lives. It is a bottom-up phenomenon rather than system of thought or behavior being imposed from above.(pp.33-36)
All these accounts seem to agree that there is renewed interest in things spiritual at work. However, but there is less agreement as to the causes. The Business Week story claimed that:
The largest driver of this trend is the mounting evidence that spirituality minded programs in the workplace not only soothe workers’ psyches but also deliver improved productivity. (p.153).
The authors of the Sloan Management Review article identified the widespread hunger or spiritual yearning as a search for meaning. They asked the people they interviewed what gave them the most meaning and purpose in their jobs. Here is the list, ranked from first to seventh:
1. The ability to realize my full human potential as a person.
2. Being associated with a good organization or an ethical organization. (Most people saw "good" and "ethical" as the same thing.)
3. Interesting work.
4. Making money.
5. Having good colleagues; serving humankind.
6. Service to future generations.
7. Service to my immediate community.
This search for personal integration and for meaning in business and the professions has been the focus of the Woodstock Business Conference’s efforts for the past six years. Each month over 250 businessmen and women in cities across North America meet in local chapters seeking to bridge the apparent gap between faith and work by reflecting on the issues and problems of the contemporary workplace. As the news accounts confirm, that there are many different paths being explored by people engaged in this search.
All observers properly warn of the dangers and ineffectiveness of closed-minded dogmatism and blatant proselytizing. There is a residue of ill feeling from past religious conflicts. However, to say that the driver of the trend is increased productivity, reduced turnover, or that competitive advantage may be grasped is to miss the point all together. It goes much deeper.
In our experience with the Woodstock Business Conference members, we have seen healthier corporate cultures develop with lasting benefits for the organization and all its stakeholders. (Indeed, this is one of the aims of Woodstock’s mission.) However, we have also found occasions where key individual have come to recognize and oppose improper practices within their organizations and have faced negative reactions as a consequence. Their acts have had the effect of unleashing destructive forces against them. Some individuals found themselves forced to leave their firms and even their professions. So much for generalizing about increased profitability and reduced turnover.
The real need behind the movement from our vantage point is not some desire for soothed feelings but a deep-seated drive within each of us to use our talents, intelligence, imagination, and our desire to work hard in order to do good within our firms and organizations and in the wider society. It is the desire to realize our full human potential and enable others to do so as well in the context of where we live and work. Some see this as a call to labor with God in making life better though our ordinary, day-to-day work. They say that whatever our job descriptions are, we carry the challenge to bring peace, justice, and joy to the world.
Engagement Where We Live and Work: Moral Decision-making
Centuries ago, people thought they had to leave the community and live apart in order to realize their full potential as humans called by God. What we are seeing today is a far different kind of call welling up within us. What is needed is a spirituality of engagement. Since the old model of the hermit, praying alone out in the desert, can not answer this call, the question is what can we do in the nitty-gritty of where we work each day? We need to explore further the "where" and "how" for this 21st century spirituality.
First, the "Where?" The field for engagement, for many of us, is where we work. Our jobs, occupations, and professions claim our waking hours. It is on the job that some of our most important engagements with the world take place. And this is when we are in the decision-making process, choosing and acting on what is worthwhile, valuable, and good.
In fact, we are constantly making moral decisions. Whenever we decide that something is worthwhile and do it, or that something is not good and we avoid it; we make a moral decision. When others are involved or affected these become serious moral decisions. At work, we are using our talents, intelligence, and imagination all the time as we make judgements about the right thing to do.
It also follows that as we are making moral decisions on the job and we are, in the process, making ourselves as moral persons. As we do so, we come to an almost inchoate realization that this is what is going on. That realization powers our quest for integration and meaning at work. It is in moral decision making that intelligent and effective engagement is required.
Good moral decision-making, like any other human process involves actions that, over time, become habitual. The issue boils down to whether we develop and maintain good, helpful habits in the process of decision-making or whether we retain and support bad habits that impede or sabotage our efforts.
The next question is the "How?" of good moral decision-making. This issue surfaced during a recent Woodstock Business Conference conversation on the topic of what happens to the generally benevolent policies of a business organization when it is faced with difficult economic circumstances. What happens to an employee friendly corporate culture "when push comes to shove?"
Let me tell you about this particular session. It began, as all do, with self-introductions, opening prayer, reading the Mission Statement, and a reading and reflection upon a passage from Scripture. The passage in question was the account of Peter’s dramatic threefold denial of Jesus. Various people told how the passage spoke to them that day. One, a vice president of an international electronic equipment firm, said, "This passage tells me that in our business lives we should stand up for what we believe. It doesn’t have to be a popular sentiment." Another had a different view:
The one thing I take from this story, he said, is that Peter put himself at risk. He was the only disciple there in the courtyard. He was probably scared half to death, knowing it was not going well for Jesus who was inside right then on trial for his life. Peter was in a very difficult place. He must have felt awful when he denied knowing his good friend Jesus. Peter was just a man. He was trying to get through the night.
Others agreed that they, too, had experienced Peter’s dilemma. A senior United States Federal government executive, a true realist, spoke of a kind of futility in the situation.
What could he do there, anyway? But then he admitted that kind of rationalization is only too familiar to all of us. It is human to rationalize in order to get out of becoming involved in a mess.
The two themes surfaced during the Scripture reflection that day: (1) the need to stand up for one’s values and (2) the need to recognize when, as a practical matter, action was futile. They returned as the discussion moved into the topic for the day.
The discussion of the topic itself began with the question,"Assume that you run a benevolent firm. It employs a lot of people and offers generous benefits. It has a nice stock ownership and pension plans. Maybe you have employed too many people. What happens to your benevolent company when financial hard times hit? " The vice president of the electronic equipment manufacturer repeated his earlier call to stand up for values. He said that any senior official must focus on how the challenge is to be faced and rule out those options that are clearly wrong. He added:
In my opinion when this comes up an executive or manager who believes in doing the spiritually right thing can present that option as being hand-in-glove with the corporation’s bottom line. Benevolent practices retain valuable employees and the market will recognize this in higher prices for its stock. It may seem like we are taking on an impossible fight but I know that it is actually doable.
Not everyone agreed with him. An international trade executive told of a situation where he felt that doing the "spiritually right thing" was simply futile:
I had occasion to know "Chainsaw" Al Dunlop. He and his boss at the time were corporate raiders of the first order. His attitude was predatory. There are predators in the business world. You knew he is going to go in and slash payroll and slash heads. The object is profit maximization and minimization of costs. Get rid of those pension fund obligations and pour the money back into the corporate pockets wherever possible.
An insurance executive recounted his own unsettling confrontation with one such predator. The lesson for him was, "When you enter the corporate culture, you have to be ready to compromise some of your values."
The group moved beyond particular stories to search for the patterns that would help guide individuals and organizations in the right direction. Recalling the Scripture reading that began the meeting, one said:
The comments about the corporate culture and predators were right on target. Thinking about the fear and confusion that Peter was experiencing, either he had never really had his moral compass tested before or he lost it. The story does not tell how he got it back. It seems to me that Peter’s story applies to all of us. We have similar fears, similar confusions. We are sometimes at a loss to know the right thing to do. Today, the question is how do we either find or re-find our moral compass when we need to act? There has to be a bridge somewhere.
Seven Questions for Good Moral Decision-Making
How do we find or refind our moral compass when we need to act? We all need a good working moral compass when we are called upon to do the right thing. Since knowing and doing the right thing is so much a part of our work-life experience, the practical question becomes down to how we develop the habits that will reinforce good moral decision-making?
From our experience with the Woodstock Business Conference, including participation in many meetings like the one I have been talking about, we have identified 7 questions that can help to guide good moral decision-making. These are questions we might ask of ourselves and of our organizations. The context for these questions can be found in a observation made at the conclusion of this same meeting. The chief executive of a Washington, D.C. based "think tank" suggested that an answer to the search for a moral compass could be found in Peter’s story. Here is what he said:
What would the motivation be for Peter’s turnabout? When Jesus turned and looked at Peter, their eyes locked and their personal relationship came alive. This is a man that Jesus loved and respected very deeply. When that happened, Peter saw someone he really loved and he must have recalled the community in which they shared their lives and values together. It came alive. All this came to Peter in that look and then he realized that what he had done was not up to snuff. Sure, he had been very confused and may even have thought, "What good could he have done?" But, the basic questions is, not so much what do you think, but who do you love? When push comes to shove, the values of our communities, groups, and the people we love will guide our actions. We are sustained by our communities of love. I think it is there that we will be able to retrieve our moral compass.
Finding one’s moral compass
We begin with an awareness that our own sense of moral responsibility is embedded in our very makeup. Test yourself to see if it is not true. Recall a time when you suddenly heard a child cry, received an ominous call, or happened upon a scene with things out of kilter. What was the first sensation or feeling? These are times when something almost erupts from within us driving us out of ourselves to care for or about someone or something else. These were times when we are moved to respond to a person, a thing, or an event. We can feel this drive even if its source and direction are not clear. An energizing feeling of care directs our attention outward. The important fact to notice is that this dynamism exists and that it mobilizes us to act with respect to objects or persons outside of ourselves. This same dynamic pushes us to know the right thing to do.
Am I with God in the process?
We recognize that we never operate in a vacuum, morally or otherwise. All of our actions, including our acts of moral decision, take place within a frame of reference or horizon. This horizon includes within it all that we know and care about, the ideas, conditions, and assumptions that guide us in our perceiving, understanding, explaining, valuing, and judging. It determines the reach or limit of what we can understand and the judgments we make at any particular time. What we know and value or disvalue determines what we are attracted to and what we try to avoid.
A simple step of asking: Am I with God in the process? Serves the same function as reading and reflecting on Scripture at the beginning of each Woodstock Business Conference meeting. It will surface the crucial question of the relevance of the Gospel and the faith tradition in our knowing the right thing to do. The Gospel message and our relationship with God motivate us to choose and do what is ethical and moral. It puts our role in the world into context, within an enhanced frame of reference, whether are a business person, professional, educator, or whatever. We are better able to evaluate specific action plans, a well as social policies. Our relationship with God calls to mind that look between Jesus and Peter. It brings to life the people and communities we love and the values that sustain and promote us on our course of good moral decision making.
Am I on course?
To see where we are going with this drive embedded deep within us, we identify the values are we trying to preserve or promote in the particular decision or action? Some values may be in tension or conflict with others e.g., corporate competitiveness and compassion for employees? How are values prioritized in the actual decision reached? Most decisions are not about good and bad, but about good and better. The challenge is to determine which is better. In concrete cases, this judgment call will ultimately depend on all the circumstances, the question of motivations, and how the decisions are implemented.
The first of the seven questions is: Am I on course? This is a question of orientation and direction informed by the values of the communities, groups, and individuals we love. It is also a question of how we operate. In Genesis, God said we, his creatures, were good ”” even though we mar it with our sinfulness, inattention, bias, and timidity. Therefore, if we desire to do as well as possible in the struggle to make good decisions, we can find a pattern that is written into us by God Himself as he created and redeemed us. Finding that pattern helps us to check and see if we are on course, faithful to our basic vocation or calling in life.
Am I paying attention?
The pattern of good moral decisions-making begins with the question: Am I paying attention? Recall a time when you were involved in an important job and it was done well. When we talk about what happened when a job was done well, particularly a job that called for a good decision that was carried into action, we inevitably start off by describing the facts of the situation, event, opportunity, problem.
Similarly, in reaching the moral decision we must begin with searching for, paying attention to, and understanding all the relevant facts. Paying attention to all the relevant details requires that we keep ourselves aware of what’s going on, observant, open, and receptive. By listening, imagining, noticing all that is going on we have the foundation from which to move forward. It is here, at the threshold stage, that mistakes are most often made as our impatience, fear, laziness, or bias often causes us to overlook important factors. We have to be open to re-examine our basic presuppositions. Paying attention is the opposite of sleepwalking or being in a fog.
Do I really understand?
From collecting and organizing the data, our internal pattern next moves us to find out what makes sense of the situation. We want to understand and explain the event, problem, or occurrence. What is really going on? What really is a stake? What will explain all of this? We look for connections, clues, hypotheses, patterns. In time, we may come up with one or more insights, bright ideas, educated guesses about how to explain the facts. Often more than one possible explanation might fit the situation and it might not be clear which is more probably correct.
So, the next question in our process is: Do I really understand? If not, we may have to go back to work to get more facts or to inquire more widely, tap into the wisdom, learning, intelligence of others. We repeat the question "Do I really understand?" until we come up with what is the most plausible explanation.
Have I made the call?
Coming to a plausible explanation leads naturally to the next question in the process ”” a question of judgment about what is actual, real, or true. It is judging that there is sufficient evidence to say that this particular explanation is correct. This is a judgment of fact. Like the referee or the umpire ”” I have to make the call.
More mistakes are made where people go from experiencing a presenting problem or situation and then leaping to action without the intermediate work of understanding and judgement. The leap to action, more often that not, perpetuates errors, mistakes, and decline. So the questions, Do I understand and Have I made the call on the situation are necessary prerequisites to good moral decisions and action.
Is this the right thing to do?
Immediately upon completing the assessment of the situation, the next stage in the process involves the consideration of what to do about it. The first step in this stage searches out available and imaginable options. We imagine possible ways of achieving "win-win" outcomes. The search for options merits the same vital attention as demanded by the initial situation. The options are weighed to determine what the best course of action might be. Again, we come to a judgement, but this time it is a judgment for action, that course of action "A" is the better plan, the right thing to do.
Where we ask the value question, "Is this the right thing to do?" we presuppose all that has gone on up to that point, including:
. our good grasp of the facts and understanding the situation
. our adept assembly of the imaginable and available options
. our choice among competing options as to the course of action that is better, more worthwhile, than the others.
As we answer that question, we move inexorably to action. The act of moral decision is incomplete, half-done, until the decision is brought to life in action. To be complete, we carry out our judgments, once made. This is truly the hard part. It may call for self-sacrifice. Inevitably we risk personal change.
What is the feedback?
Life goes on even after the most momentous decisions. Hopefully, we and the situation that initiated the process in the first place will be improved by our action. Improved or not, things will be changed. That changed situation provides us with the feedback. Feedback is important because it is a part of the same self-correction process. It can not to be ignored. Again, we are called to pay attention, to understand, and to judge. So we ask, "What is the feedback?" As we do so, we can raise the new questions for understanding, explore new options, repair the situation, and make new decisions. This is a cumulative pattern. This is how we learn. This is how we grow.
CONCLUSION
What we know and care about changes over time. An inner drive powering us through our acts of moral decision can, in the process, also enlarge and elevate our horizons, causing us to expand the scope of the good we desire. Just as clearly, our choices can move us in the other direction. We can shrink morally.
By asking these seven questions, we keep using all we have learned in each new situation. We see how we can improve both the process of decision making and our concrete moral determinations themselves. Our lives grow in a spiral of cumulative behavior. Life at work is no exception. This is serious business, the challenge and opportunity for moral growth is going on all the time. This cumulative dynamic has the potential for improvement as well as decline.
We stay on the right course to the extent that we make the effort necessary to pay attention to all the relevant data and ask the necessary questions. We maintain course and our relationship with God where, on the basis of our questioning, we make the commitments to judge what is true and do what is good. What we are doing is who we are patterned and called to be. We are simply fulfilling our vocation by responding to the calling which is built right into us. We are vocations. We are called by God to engage in and improve His world using all our talents right where we are.
What we are talking about is not a once in a lifetime experience but a way of life. It is a way of life in active relationship with the mind and the heart of the risen Christ. Ultimately, it involves recognizing the initiative of the Holy Spirit in our work life experiences and following the Spirit’s lead.
Woodstock Business Conference
Woodstock Theological Center
Georgetown University
Washington, DC 20057-1137
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