Ethics... Its Only Common Sense
Frank J. Navran

One of the criticisms of ethics training that we often read in the comments section of course critiques is that ethics training teaches nothing new, that it is only common sense. That is a troubling observation. If true, it means that there is nothing of value added to the organization through the ethics training process. If false, it may mean that the training failed to teach what it set out to teach.

Or it may be that the learning was so different from the typical skills training that the uninformed learner didn’t even realize the significance of what was learned. In that case, the training failed on a different level. If the learner has no appreciation for the value of the training experience he/she may be inclined to discourage others from attending future sessions and/or establish negative expectations of the training in future learners.

While puzzling over the question of whether ethics training is nothing more than common sense I ran across an interesting observation. Jeffery Archer, in his book Honor Among Thieves, stated, “Those who cry ‘common sense’ are often the same people who are too lazy to train their minds.” This suggests that calling ethics training nothing more than common sense may not suggest that it is without value. Rather it may be that effective ethics training applies a discipline and structure to the questions of ethical behavior such that the learner “painlessly” internalizes the lessons taught because those lessons are consistent with what the learner can comfortably believe and support.

If the ethics training builds on those values which are common to the organization and the learner then ethics training is indeed built on a common sense of what is right, fair and good. If that is the case, then the observation that ethics training is nothing more than common sense is a ringing endorsement of the values underlying whatever content is presented in the classroom.

While those values may be familiar, making the agreement between organizational and individual learner values explicit, clearly understood and appreciated may be sufficient cause for ethics training in the first place. The objective of demonstrating congruence between organizational and employee ethics is, after all, one of the objectives of many ethics training initiatives. It is that very congruence which serves as a building block for employee commitment to organizational goals when those goals can be shown to be congruent with the organization’s and employees’ shared values.

Taking the notion of common sense a step further, there was an observation made years ago that, “The only problem with common sense is that is it is not all that common.” Again we can look at one role of ethics training as creating a common sense of values, ethics and priorities. As employees are called upon to make decisions they can take comfort in knowing how the common sense of rightness, fairness and goodness are defined within the organization. That knowledge frees them to make decisions with a clear sense of the degree to which the organization will support their choice.

When an organization embarks on a path of ethics training it is often an attempt by the organization to reshape some elements of its culture. Again, we can argue that culture is nothing more than the cumulative common sense of how the organization should function and how employees within the organization should behave. Ethics training helps the organization redefine its common sense and encourages employees to adapt their individual values and ethics to accommodate the common sense of the organization.

Upon reflection, the comment on the end of course critique form that, “This training is nothing more than common sense” may be a ringing endorsement of the training’s success. There is the one final concern. Being nothing more than common sense should not be allowed to stand as an indictment of ethics training. Rather it may be that this potential criticism should be defused by the trainer in either the introduction/overview/objectives portion of the training or in the summary/conclusion/wrap-up.

It may be the most valuable learning for trainees to take home the realization that they, their fellow employees and the organization itself share a common sense, a common set of values and a common ethic.