Ethics

The Ethics Challenge: Strengthening Your Integrity In A Greedy World

In this book, the authors, Bob Stone and Mick Ukleja discuss why do good people behave unethically. Both authors believe that there are only a handful of questions that have shaped the meaning of ethics. Culture, beliefs, and upbringing affect one’s moral perception as well. Therefore, they think that what may be deemed right to some, may be found blasphemous to others.

The book has divided into four parts. The first part, Got Ethics?, describes the basic ethical dilemma about why human’s behavior does not match his or her ethical intelligence and intention some time. Then, it lays out the basis for individual’s values systems, and explains why ethical behavior eventually is a winning strategy for all. In the beginning of the book, Stone and Uklega mention that it is no doubt that people cheat or lie or steal to win. Everybody heard of cheater never win or winner never cheat. However in human daily life, people see too much of evidence of the opposite side. Moreover, the authors think that it is too easy to justify cheating when someone knows others are doing it. Everyone has done some wrong things to gain benefit but the benefit is always short-term and the bad feelings lingered on. Thus, the lessons from first part talk about ethics emphasized that each individual should look for ethical issues behind every controversy and do not assume behavior is right just because it follows the law or the rules.

In the second part of the book, Strengthening Your Integrity in a Greedy World, which discusses about six things everyone can do to keep strong and prepared to follow their good intentions in the face of ethical challenges they meet everywhere. The six things that both authors believe will strengthen ethical readiness and help to do the right thing instinctively are embrace your purpose, test your excuses, harness your moods, insist on integrity, cultivate trust, and self-differentiate. For...