Winding Down

I must admit that I am greatly relieved that this project is approaching the end of its life. I still believe in the power of reflection as it pertains to learning, so I am not sorry that I chose a project that allowed me to do so much reflecting. However, I do somewhat regret that I chose to reflect in a blog format. I have discovered that I simply have no desire to spend my time firing up the computer, waiting for it to load, logging in to the blog site, and exposing my thoughts to cyberspace.

This semester has been incredibly busy for me--at home, at work, and with school. This is something I anticipated before the semester began. It has been and continues to be a struggle for me to stay afloat, but I have learned so much along the way. And the business has offered a wealth of scenarios upon which I can reflect and relate to my ethical philosophy.

As I ponder over events that have transpired over the last few weeks, the one word that repeatedly comes to mind is "adversity." While that word might imply a sense of pessimism, I should note that one significantly positive outcome from the adversity is that I feel as though I have matured in my role as a professional, a leader, and as a student in this Ethics class.

For example, our office has been operating without the services of two of our full-time staff members. (Normally we have four full-time employees, so we are functioning at 50% capacity.) As the staff member with the most seniority, much of the responsibility of our office is assumed to be on my shoulders. Unfortunately, this has forced me to pass over much of the work for which I would otherwise be responsible in favor of "leading" the office through this period of being short-staffed.

I have had to make decisions that have directly affected certain sets of students, and these effects have not necessarily been positive. I have accepted the fact that our office simply cannot keep up with the work that needs to be done. Some of the services that we normally provide our students and our faculty and staff has been compromised. I have had to deliberately disregard some of my "regular" responsibilities so that I could tend to responsibilities that, arguably, are more important.

The influx of work to be done and choices to be made has materialized almost faster than I can keep up. I have had to make several snap decisions or have spent MUCH less time that I normally would spend making decisions that probably should have demanded more of my time. In many cases, the material we have discussed in our Ethics class has influenced my such decisions.

I believe that each of us, as human beings, reach a point where we become so overwhelmed with to-do lists and mulit-tasking that eventually we become more concerned with getting the job done than getting the job done right. Unfortunately, I have reached that point. There have been recent occasions when I failed to adequately determine how my decision or action would affect the integrity of our office. The integrity is a virtue that I am expected to--indeed, get paid to--uphold.

I also have had to prioritize some of my inquiries based on ethical concerns. For two solid weeks now, with each incoming email or phone call, I have had to decide how prioritize my responses in the most fair and just manner as possible. That hasn't always been easy.

It's getting late, and I'd like to finally call it a day. What I have taken away in my reflection upon my recent adversity is that the prioritization of my tasks have been largely egoist in nature. I have had ordered my to-do list in a way that seems the most convenient (or logical) to me, rather than in a way that can accommodate the most people. I would not operate in this manner under ordinary circumstances, but I could argue that the challenging circumstances warrant this behavior.

This is another reason why i usually hesitate to subscribe to one particular method or theory or system or philosophy. While many of the ethical theories that Thiroux discusses in the text seem logical, it is clear to me that I cannot abide by them universally. I must always consider the context of the scenario when choosing the most appropriate ethcial model to employ.