Analyzing Mccoy's 'Parable Of The Sadhu'
An ethical dilemma as defined by Wikipedia is a complex situation that involves a mental conflict between moral obligations where if you obey one it results in the lapse of the other. In the “Parable of the Sadhu” there is an ethical dilemma because the group is presented with two hard choices and they can only pick one. They had to decide how much they wanted to sacrifice of themselves to help the Sadhu, who was a stranger. If they took the Sadhu to the village they would be separated from the rest of the group by the storm and wouldn’t be able to climb the pass. The group clearly decided to act on the ethical thought of egoism and social contract. The social contract act can be seen when the men do the minimum to help the Indian just so
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they won’t feel guilty later.
Each person in society grows up with different views on ethics because each culture is different.
As an ethical person one has to consider each situation that they face under the light of their own ethics. This becomes harder in McCoy’s situation in the parable because the group consists of people from many different countries and backgrounds. As McCoy expresses in his article if a manager does not take a stand fast and starts thinking too much in choosing what is right he will lose the enterprise (107). Taking a stand in every situation is required because as an indecisive person one looks weak and if one doesn’t take a stand especially in business another person can take your spot and make it for you. This usually would result in worst consequences because after you think, you may not agree with the decision …show more content…
made.
One should decide to let a “Sadhu” into their life after one goes through a decision making process. One should way the situation against their own being, moral principles and the consequences of the action. In the parable Stephen run through this process way before McCoy realized it. If helping someone will lead to one’s own death then this is crossing the line. For example if one sees a poor person in the street giving him money is the minimum one can do, this doesn’t involve any sacrifice. Maybe stopping and asking what’s wrong and if they need any other kind of help may come with a sacrifice, them stealing from one or one being late to work. In the parable as a group they could have helped the Sadhu because helping him was not going to lead them to their death, they would have had to sacrifice the trip through the pass, but there were also other roads they could have taken. In the article I would agree more with Stephen because personally I have a stronger ethical value of compassion. I would have put my personal goal aside because this was a live or death situation.
In my opinion, as a manager one can cause the most influence over the people under him through actions.
People follow more what they see than what they hear. As a manager one can prepare their organization for a time of crisis by showing constantly the main values of the company through their actions. He should show confidence and strength when faced with a crisis so employees can learn how to handle similar situations. The manager could also meet regularly with each employee and hear what values they have. As an employee it is harder for one to influence a bigger group of people like an organization or institution. If we don’t agree with the company’s point of view we should hear what the reasons behind the point of view are and then decide our stand. What I have learned in life is to weigh the pros and cons of a current situation and based on that decide what to do. Sometimes when we are in a hurry or in the case of McCoy in a stressful situation we don’t have time to do this. In this case what I have learned to do is take a minute to just think because mostly if you don’t have a strong sense of ethics or morals one usually goes along with the group because they feel peer pressure or one is afraid to not be able to be successful on their
own.
The institution or organization should also give some freedom to their workers like McCoy said in his article and support personal values (108). If the company does this then the individual doesn’t have to ignore their own sense of values completely and keep the core of their individuality. Our actions should always be aligned with or values so that we can maintain our purpose and have positive consequences. We shouldn’t ever completely ignore our sense of values and if we have to this in a job then the most extreme decision should be taken which is to quit. There are many other companies out there and we should search for one with the culture that goes along with us. But we shouldn’t take this easy way all the time when faced with ethical dilemmas. One option is to learn to express one’s reasons behind one’s point of view and actions correctly so people will understand. In his book, Malcolm Gladwell expressed that when one person is a salesman it means they are persuaders and people that have very strong negotiation skills (117). In his book he says this are the kind of people that influence others mostly to do things. For example they recommend a restaurant and people go, you show favoritism for a political party and other people will also vote for that party. These are the kind of skills one has to develop to be able to influence a whole organization on a point of view.
The main points we should take away from this article are the following. Firstly that when faced with a Sadhu one should decide to help if it does not cause one’s own death or jeopardizes one’s safety. Secondly, when one takes a job one should make sure that the company culture is right and that the organization gives the employees freedom and support of their values. Finally this article teaches us to be strong and confident when faced with an ethical dilemma. One should be confident with their decision and where they stand so one does not regret it later like McCoy did.
REFERENCES
1) McCoy H., Brian. The Parable of the Sadhu. Harvard Business Review, 1983.
2) “Ethical Dilemma.” Wikipedia. N.p. N.d. Web. 16 January 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_dilemma
3) Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point. Little Brown, 2000. Print.
they won’t feel guilty later.
Each person in society grows up with different views on ethics because each culture is different.
As an ethical person one has to consider each situation that they face under the light of their own ethics. This becomes harder in McCoy’s situation in the parable because the group consists of people from many different countries and backgrounds. As McCoy expresses in his article if a manager does not take a stand fast and starts thinking too much in choosing what is right he will lose the enterprise (107). Taking a stand in every situation is required because as an indecisive person one looks weak and if one doesn’t take a stand especially in business another person can take your spot and make it for you. This usually would result in worst consequences because after you think, you may not agree with the decision …show more content…
made.
One should decide to let a “Sadhu” into their life after one goes through a decision making process. One should way the situation against their own being, moral principles and the consequences of the action. In the parable Stephen run through this process way before McCoy realized it. If helping someone will lead to one’s own death then this is crossing the line. For example if one sees a poor person in the street giving him money is the minimum one can do, this doesn’t involve any sacrifice. Maybe stopping and asking what’s wrong and if they need any other kind of help may come with a sacrifice, them stealing from one or one being late to work. In the parable as a group they could have helped the Sadhu because helping him was not going to lead them to their death, they would have had to sacrifice the trip through the pass, but there were also other roads they could have taken. In the article I would agree more with Stephen because personally I have a stronger ethical value of compassion. I would have put my personal goal aside because this was a live or death situation.
In my opinion, as a manager one can cause the most influence over the people under him through actions.
People follow more what they see than what they hear. As a manager one can prepare their organization for a time of crisis by showing constantly the main values of the company through their actions. He should show confidence and strength when faced with a crisis so employees can learn how to handle similar situations. The manager could also meet regularly with each employee and hear what values they have. As an employee it is harder for one to influence a bigger group of people like an organization or institution. If we don’t agree with the company’s point of view we should hear what the reasons behind the point of view are and then decide our stand. What I have learned in life is to weigh the pros and cons of a current situation and based on that decide what to do. Sometimes when we are in a hurry or in the case of McCoy in a stressful situation we don’t have time to do this. In this case what I have learned to do is take a minute to just think because mostly if you don’t have a strong sense of ethics or morals one usually goes along with the group because they feel peer pressure or one is afraid to not be able to be successful on their
own.
The institution or organization should also give some freedom to their workers like McCoy said in his article and support personal values (108). If the company does this then the individual doesn’t have to ignore their own sense of values completely and keep the core of their individuality. Our actions should always be aligned with or values so that we can maintain our purpose and have positive consequences. We shouldn’t ever completely ignore our sense of values and if we have to this in a job then the most extreme decision should be taken which is to quit. There are many other companies out there and we should search for one with the culture that goes along with us. But we shouldn’t take this easy way all the time when faced with ethical dilemmas. One option is to learn to express one’s reasons behind one’s point of view and actions correctly so people will understand. In his book, Malcolm Gladwell expressed that when one person is a salesman it means they are persuaders and people that have very strong negotiation skills (117). In his book he says this are the kind of people that influence others mostly to do things. For example they recommend a restaurant and people go, you show favoritism for a political party and other people will also vote for that party. These are the kind of skills one has to develop to be able to influence a whole organization on a point of view.
The main points we should take away from this article are the following. Firstly that when faced with a Sadhu one should decide to help if it does not cause one’s own death or jeopardizes one’s safety. Secondly, when one takes a job one should make sure that the company culture is right and that the organization gives the employees freedom and support of their values. Finally this article teaches us to be strong and confident when faced with an ethical dilemma. One should be confident with their decision and where they stand so one does not regret it later like McCoy did.
REFERENCES
1) McCoy H., Brian. The Parable of the Sadhu. Harvard Business Review, 1983.
2) “Ethical Dilemma.” Wikipedia. N.p. N.d. Web. 16 January 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_dilemma
3) Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point. Little Brown, 2000. Print.