Mistakes and Lessons - Personal Ethics

I don't know what other people might think in their mind, but personally I'm very self-conscious of what I do and the decisions that I make. I suppose that's one of the benefits of having a tight upbringing. There are plenty of times, when I have a business or strategic decision to make and it's not so clear cut which decision is the better one.

So one night, after thinking quite deeply over something like this, I figured out what my decision making process is. Although, decisions are something that we do on an extremely regular basis. I wanted to know if there was a systematic way that I would be happy to make decisions with. I came to the following conclusion.

In Descending Order of Importance

1) Do What is Good

2) Do What is Right

3) Do What you Want

The first two points may seem very similar to some, but as fellow lawyers know we are very specific with our words. I interpret good from a utilitarian perspective, or in other words what is the literal and material benefit of this decision. I conversely see right from a ethical standpoint.

So my list places utility above ethics, does that make me a bad business person, does this make me an immoral person? Well that's up to you to decide. But while you think this through, I'll elaborate a little bit more. First of all what is good, is more of a cost to benefit calculation. Literally weighing up the total costs to the total benefit. Notice how I said total costs and total benefit? I try to take into account the impact of my work on everyone, not just myself. I feel that if more good comes out of a decision than bad then society can gain overall.

I feel that as an entrepreneur, my greatest asset is the freedom to do what I want. Compared to many people, I am not restricted by what my boss thinks, but what the market and society is willing to except. I want to do good for society, and being an entrepreneur I'm willing to fight norms and social expectations to make great things happen.

This doesn't mean that I'll never consider the ethical questionability of my actions by any means, but I've just decided that if it came to a questionable decision, I know what I believe in and what I would do. Here's an example of a situation that you might be put in. Although not an easy decision by any means, I would know what I would do.

Well, it seems I'm just ranting now, but I suppose if there's one things I want to communicate in this post its this. We all make decisions in our lives, find out what is important to you and always stand by it. What you believe in may be different to me and this is fine. But definitely contemplate and find out what you stand for, your future decisions will be much easier if you do this.