Grappling with the Gray

Are some topic too hot to discuss? Not when we're Grappling with the Gray, they're not. This is the challenge the ethics panel takes up when Jennifer Elder, Mark O'Brien, and Stewart Wiggins join me to confront the clash between professional responsibility and personal conviction. Here is our topic: In the infamous 1857 Dred Scott case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that a slave...

🥷How to we resolve the tension between outcome and intention? 🥷How much does it mean to mean well if what we mean never materializes? 🥷How much is enough if we know we can't do it all? These are some of the questions the ethics panel will address when Rashmi Airan , Nick Gallo , and Laura Elizabeth Gray join me to Grapple with the Gray. Here is our scenario: You schedule a business lunch w...

When protestors respond to reasonable questions about their causes with, "Why does it matter?" isn't it long past time that we addressed the failings of our education system? Tune in this Wednesday here on LinkedIn Live at 5:00 pm ET when Diane Helbig , Brian Kelly , and K Kimi Hirotsu Ziemski join the ethics panel for another episode of Grappling with the Gray. Here is our topic: T...

🥷Should we draw a line between business practices and political activism? 🥷Should we keep our personal views out of the boardroom and off the billboards? 🥷Is it proper to use a business platform to support a social agenda that is not universally held? Tune into LinkedIn Live when the ethics panel convenes at a special time for a special transatlantic episode Grappling with the Gray. On recent p...

Should we look to the stars to solve our problems, or do we already have enough to deal with here on earth? The ethics of space pioneering is the subject of my conversation with NASA program director Michael Ciannilli. As children, virtually all of us are enamored with the idea of space flight. As we get older, however, we may lose our youthful enthusiasm as we contemplate the ethical questions sp...

When everyone is guilty, is no one guilty? That's what the ethics panel will be grappling with on this episode of Grappling with the Gray.  Here's our scenario: Ronald Opus attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the top floor of a ten story building. What he did not know was that construction workers had placed a net at the first floor level to catch falling debris, which would have...

If we can't trust the media, how can we be informed? If we aren't informed, how can we hold opinions? If we can't hold opinions, how can we condemn evil and fight for good? This is the quandary the ethics panel takes up on this week's episode of Grappling with the Gray. When a hospital in Gaza exploded two weeks ago, headlines on CNN and the NY Times both parroted Palestinian c...

What are we to think of people who literally can't think for themselves? With only a few notable exceptions, the entire world has condemned the atrocities of October 7 perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on Israeli civilians. Citizens of Gaza, however, remain loyal to Hamas leaders, and those same acts violence seem widely endorsed and even celebrated. Particularly disturbing is how Palestinian y...

This panel discussion was recorded on October 18, Global Ethics Day. I had planned a different topic for discussion, but we really can’t avoid addressing the current crisis in the Mideast. Here is our topic: The plight of 2 million residents of Gaza has been desperate for decades. It may seem easy and convenient to blame Israel, but the reality of the situation is far more complicated. In 2005, af...

Can you be right and still be wrong? That's the question I'll be discussing with my very special guest Cy Wakeman on this week's episode of Grappling with the Gray. Here is our topic for today. Real estate mogul Tim Gurner, one of Australia’s richest men, made headlines when he remarked that employees should stop feeling like they’re doing their boss a favor and consider themselves...

Is it right to take what you're allowed to take even if you're not really entitled to it?  That's the question before the ethics panel on this archive episode. Here's the challenge: You've just finished your medical residency.  You've been hired by a respected hospital that wants you to start immediately.  However, because of state regulations and bureaucratic red tap...

Is the lesser of two evils still evil? That's the topic the ethics panel takes up on this week's episode of Grappling with the Gray. Here is our dilemma: 2024 is shaping up to be the third presidential election in a row where the majority of Americans oppose both candidates.  A recent Economist/YouGov poll found 56% of voters don’t want former Donald Trump to run for re-election and 59%...

Do we want to teach our children to think or do we want to teach them to think like us? And what happens when we don't think there's a difference? That's the question the ethics panel takes up on this week's episode of Grappling with the Gray. Here's our scenario: Education has become one of the most contentious fields of battle of the culture wars, with the political righ...

Does anything go for a good cause?  Do the ends justify the means? These are the questions that arise on this episode of Grappling with the Gray when Kimberly Davis, Diane Helbig, and Annette Taylor join the ethics panel. Here is our topic: For years, I’ve been an avid fan of behavioral economics professor Dan Ariely. I’ve often referenced his work on ethics and morals in my articles and discussio...

Are we willing to confront the apparent inconsistencies of our own beliefs? If you don't think so, then this episode may not be for you. Ethics requires us to ask ourselves difficult questions and consider answers that might make us uncomfortable. Fortunately, I was able to find three guests who have the courage to do just that as the panel convenes to Grapple with the Gray. Here is the scena...

Air travel has gotten more challenging, and stories of lost luggage abound. But this one really stands out as an example of incompetence crossing the ethical line. Here is our topic: On July 17, Sandra Shuster and her 15 years old daughter, Ruby, boarded a United Airlines flight in Baltimore. They arrived in Denver to discover that Ruby’s lacrosse kit had not arrived with them. After twice being t...

Welcome to Grappling with the Gray, a forum for promoting the development of an ethical mindset and ethical decision-making to help us clearly see both sides of complex issues and better navigate the moral challenges of everyday life. This week's scenario: You’re walking down the hallway of a corporate office building.  The elevator door opens in front of you, and out of the elevator steps yo...

🥷Is there anything that still goes without saying? 🥷What's the cost of saying what needs to be said? 🥷How can you speak to best ensure that your words will be heard? These are the questions we will address with the Wonderful Wizard of Wise Words, WP bestselling author Sam Horn , in a special edition of Grappling with the Gray. And here is the scenario we’ll be discussing: According to FAA...

It might be easier if everything was black and white.  But that's not the world we live in.  That's why we have to grapple with the gray. This episode's ethics challenge: Last week, actor Kevin Spacey was acquitted of all the sexual abuse charges that have dogged him for six years. During that time, his acting career collapsed, and many predict that, with his reputation in tatters,...

What happens when the implicit conditions of a relationship change? What is the difference between a contract and a covenant? What effect do pragmatism and expedience have on our core values? These are some of the topics the ethics panel takes up on this episode of Grappling with the Gray. Here is our ethical dilemma: A man posed this question to an ethicist: "My wife is ill and lives in a nu...

If we abandon tradition, how will we know our past? If we cling to tradition, how will we embrace the future? The tension between tradition and progressivism comes into focus when this week's ethics panel convenes to Grapple with the Gray. Join us on LinkedIn Live this Wednesday at 5:00 pm ET when we take up this ethical dilemma: Once again, the running of the bulls at Pamplona resulted in mu...

How do we navigate the ethics of uncertainty?  How sure do we have to be before we can rely on our own assumptions? Is there ever a time when an honest mistake doesn't need to be rectified? These are some of the questions we take up when the ethics panel convenes to Grapple with the Gray. Here is this week's ethical dilemma: You’re pacing back and forth outside your favorite restaurant a...

Where's the line between exaggeration and misrepresentation? Is promoting a good cause ever an excuse for ignoring collateral damage? At what point does overzealousness undermine our credibility? These are some of the questions the ethics panel takes up on this episode as we Grapple with the Gray. Here's our scenario: Last week, the panel discussed whether the NAACP’s recently issued tra...

Is it ever okay to withhold information and thereby allow others to reach the wrong conclusions? That's the topic the ethics panel takes up in this archive episode of Grappling with the Gray. This episode's ethical challenge: Flying with children poses a variety of difficulties.  Aside from the challenge of managing youthful squirreliness within the confines of a crowded passenger compar...

At what point does principled protest become unprincipled parody?  That's the topic the ethics panels takes up on this episode of Grappling with the Gray. Here's the scenario: The NAACP recently issued a travel advisory declaring that people should avoid travel to Florida, claiming that the state “is openly hostile toward African Americans.” The advisory comes in response to Gov. Ron DeS...