Week 2:4
A rule is something that is imposed, a moral form of best practise.
My mother said that, when I was little and she wanted me to do something that she would instruct me to do the opposite. ‘Lucille, the sun is shining. Don’t go outside.’ And I would be out the door like a shot. So I don’t like being told what to do but slowly over the years I have accepted rules that make sense. Drive on the same side of the road as all the other cars that are going your way, i.e. drive on the left. Keep to the speed limit.
Today I will be attending a meeting that is being held under The Chatham House Rule and it has inspired me to apply a modifier to my journal.
The Chatham House Rule reads as follows:
“When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed”.
I don’t want to be forced into a situation where What Happens on the Dance Floor Stays on the Dance Floor. If my journal is to be a blog, available to more than just my line manager and myself, I – as the participant in my own life – feel free to use the information that I receive. But I will invoke that other rule, The Golden Rule { The maxim ‘Treat others how you wish to be treated’ } &, where it seems that I am saying something awkward, I will preserve the dignity of people who I interact with.
Some thoughts on Ethics inspired by the talk that I have attended. A talk that was carried out under the above rule.
Is there such a thing as a theoretical side to ethics? I suppose that is when you read what other people have said about it. Doctors cannot be theoretical though, no matter how much they may be tempted to refer to matters as such. If the system is at odds with common sense then doing the right thing will seem like bucking the trend. There were several references to this. To be brave, to be strong enough to do the right thing. The system has a resistance to new ideas or to innovation. Sometimes this means doing the obvious things, doing what people are surprised has not been done before.
The problem is that feeling that you are the lone agent of success or failure leads to bad decisions being defended as well as good ones, to preserve the illusion of rightness. These are the people who will criticise the change agent, who needs to cultivate an ability to listen to criticism without being crushed by it.
A personal, paid coach is easily in the camp of someone who does not want to change the status quo (by much) and can fall into the trap of telling people what they want to hear. Such a person wants to stay in work and may be convinced that only other coaches pander to their clients. One must encourage disagreement i.e. the challenge of ideas and ways of doing things.
{If I offered to pay someone to tell me one truth every day that I would find uncomfortable, would there be many takers for such a job?}
Guilty knowledge. You know something. There is a damaging practice, a dangerously deficient practitioner and you discover this or realise it. From the moment that you obtain this guilty knowledge the clock starts ticking and it will not stop until you have taken action about it.