Your personal moral standing depends on the choices you make when faced with such ethical dilemmas. Some dilemmas are one where you are faced with a choice to make, and other dilemmas are where actions of others have put you in a situation to take a stand, ethically correct or morally wrong. Often, in the second scenario, people want you to forget ethics, and take a favourable decision.
When you are facing a personal dilemma or a primary dilemma where you are the first decision maker, follow these simple tips:
- Don't come to a conclusive judgement
- Analyse and gather as much information you can about the situation before you
- Discuss the situation with others - family members, friends or colleagues
- Explore the moral & ethical principles involved
- Take note of the emotional aspects of the situation
- Refer to the Code of Ethics applicable for your workplace & how the situation should be ideally resolved
- God-fearing mother test: If your mother is a god-fearing woman with high moral standing, would she be happy with the choice you make? What would make her proud of you?
- Consequences: What is expected out of the different choices?? Is you choice going to make someone suffer without any fault?