We tend not to think of ethics as something that, like muscles, can be worked out and strengthened.

Steven Greisdorf

Steven D. Greisdorf, Director, Caux Initiatives for Business

Across the professional spectrum, we have been hearing more and more lately about capacity building. Typically, this refers to the skills and knowledge of individuals in developing nations to sustain levels of technological and economic development that will contribute to growth. The phrase has also been used to refer to the capabilities that exist within a corporation, including capital and labor, to undertake a certain level of activity. It has even been used to describe the ability of non-profit organizations to fulfill the mission to which they have been called.

Sometimes we hear people talk about mental capacity (the ability to absorb a certain level of knowledge) or physical capacity, which could be considered a combination of strength and endurance. We may have even heard of emotional capacity, perhaps a tolerance for lots of bad news.

Capacity building has not often been referred to in the realm of ethics. We typically think of ethics, and the practice thereof, as consisting of decisions and actions related to right and wrong, or perhaps more precisely, decisions related to right versus more right. Either we make the right decision, and are considered ethical, or make the wrong decision, and are considered unethical or at least falling short of some ethical standard. We tend not to think of ethics as something that, like muscles, can be worked out and strengthened.

The fact of the matter is that everyday we absorb information that informs our decision making capabilities. Some of this information is value-neutral: it has no ethical content. For example, we hear or read a weather report that informs us that there is a good chance that it will rain today. Common sense informs us that we would be wise to bring an umbrella. This decision has no ethical component.

Other information, however, does contain ethical content. By this, I mean that the information either supports or challenges our belief systems, informs our decision making and guides our daily actions. The information can either be at a very macro level – like the impact of having mapped the human genome or figures related to poverty or global warming – or it can be at a very micro level, like the impact of socially responsible investments or fuel consumption figures on the new car we are looking to buy. We receive this information and then form opinions which inform our actions.

Recognizing that we are confronted by ethical decisions everyday, ably navigating the waters of our various choices in relation to these decisions is vital to our own functioning as individuals and as a truly civil society. While the short-term impact of failing to make ethical decisions may only appear on our own consciences, the long-term impact, as evidenced by recent events at Enron, WorldCom, and elsewhere, suggests much broader repercussions. Indeed, capitalism without conscience leads all too often to corruption.

I define ethical capacity building as the ongoing process of strengthening one’s ability to make ethical decisions. Emphasis on this definition should be placed on both “ongoing” and “process”. Ethical capacity is not something that one puts on, like a hat, and is then taken off. It is also not something that you learn once, and then you have it. Ethical capacity is constantly being developed, taking into account new information, new learning, new experience, new relationships, and new understanding. As such, our ethical capacity, like our muscles, must be exercised.

The process of building our ethical capacity has been developed over the past 30 years by a group of professionals from around the world who have gathered in Caux, Switzerland each summer to discuss the impact of individual change on business, community, and society. Drawing on the famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” participants are encouraged to undertake the difficult work of seeking to understand more clearly the changes that are needed in their own lives in order to bring about a more just society.

There are four key elements to the process of ethical capacity building: listen, reflect, discuss, and engage.

Each of the steps in this process is self-contained, and yet each naturally informs the next. In fact, the process is circular in that once engagement has been undertaken, or even in the midst of engagement, listening confirms that the engagement is appropriate and beneficial.

The vital element that holds each of the steps in the ethical capacity building process together is trust. While a discussion on the subject of trust could be (and will likely be) the subject of a separate text, suffice it to say here that trust represents that unspoken, but clearly felt, link between what is promised and what is performed. It is, according to Webster’s dictionary, “a reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.” Trust provides a solid foundation for growth and shared understanding; mistrust (suspicion) or distrust (lack of trust) tears it away.

Trust is required at each step in building ethical capacity, imbuing with integrity our own commitment and the commitment of those on the journey. Without trust, we are not willing to listen or to share of ourselves and we do not hold in high regard the input or the output of others. Trust seems a scarce resource in today’s economy, but without it the fabric of relationships does not hold together and the process of ethical capacity building is for naught.

While ethical capacity building can be undertaken by anyone at anytime, it does require a high degree of commitment. Like exercise, it may actually be quite difficult and even painful at first. You may find that one or more of the steps in the process comes easier than others. You may even find that there are some barriers in the way of building your ethical capacity, from a lack of time to a lack of support from others. What has been demonstrated time and again, however, is that those who are willing to undertake the commitment reap benefits, both personally and in their spheres of influence.

What do you think? Send your comments to Caux Initiatives for Business.