(Advanced) Blind Spots

Exploring responses and remedies to ethical dilemmas, particularly in business with Prof. Ann Tenbrunsel, co-author of Blind Spots: Why we fail to do what's right and what to do about it and Rex and Alice A. Martin Professor of Business Ethics & Director of the Institute for Ethical Business Worldwide at the University of Notre Dame.

Listen:

Blind Spots

pragmatism

/ˈpraɡmətɪz(ə)m/

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noun

1. 1.

   a pragmatic attitude or policy.

   "ideology had been tempered with pragmatism"
2. 2.

   PHILOSOPHY

   an approach that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application.

hypocrite

/ˈhɪpəkrɪt/

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Origin

Intro:

0:00 - 0:30

We all make compromises. We are all pragmatists to some degree. We are also all moralists to some degree. There are some principles we are not prepared to give away. In what ways might people in these roles act in a hypocritical way? What compromises might they have made in pursuit of their work? Is it even possible to avoid certain forms of hypocrisy? Who is more of a hypocrite - a moralist or a pragmatist?





Job Interview scenario:

You are female in your twenties. You are being interviewed for a job you are keen to get. The interviewer is 32-year-old male.

During the course of the interview he asks you three questions:

1. Do people find you desirable?
2. Do you have a boyfriend?
3. Do you think it's important for women to wear a bra to work?

How would you react?

Would it make any difference how the questions were put? ("off-the-record" flirting, placed between more serious questions, presented as "curveball" questions, to knock you off-guard)



From 9:25 - 11.40


1. How did most women say they would respond? What did others say they would do?

2. What position did they think they were interviewing for?

3. How many interviewees answered all of the questions?

4. How many refused to answer the question about the bra?

5. How many expressed an objection to the questions during the interview?

6. How many expressed an objection to the questions after the interview?


Pause and discuss why this happened.



11:40 - 12:42

1. What other situations are mentioned?

2. What are "behavioural forecasting errors"?

3. What are "feasibility concerns"?


Discuss

1. What happens if you make a stand in these situations?

2. Why might the candidates not even be "coding" what is happening as sexual harassment?

3. Why do you think sexual harassment is such a common problem in these situations?

4. Have you had experiences where you only realised you had been harassed or subjected to abuse when it was too late?



Is it acceptable to ask a woman about baby plans during a job interview? 

NZ PM Jacinda Ardern was asked on her very first day as the leader of the opposition (2 months out from a general election she then won), if she had "baby plans". This is how she dealt with it.

Listen from 3.20 - 5:40




Unacceptable question