The reason why I say that the exploration of ethics delved into the realm of the grey, unclear and subjective is because as it was communicated to us – all the dilemmas we explored in our final cases or in our activities – were not a conflict between wrong and right, but a conflict between two wrongs and/or two rights; indicative of the extent of moral ambiguity present in each situation. Therefore, the choice of what is less wrong, or more right, was made by each of us, with valid arguments to support each decision, and those arguments exposed to us our own moral fabric, the reasons why we choose the way we do, the parameters we weigh, and why. Therefore, in order for any of us to effect change in our behaviors, the feelings driving that behavior were analyzed, and delving deeper – the thoughts which were driving those feelings.

Understanding the thought process brings us to the most important revelation which came through this workshop – understanding our competing commitments. This enabled us to see how, in our decision making framework, we often do things which we are not entirely proud of, because there’s something else which we want more. This competing commitment is often present at a subconscious level, and needs to be understood and analyzed before any change can be made to the behavior.

Finally, the freedom that comes with playing a character that you are not – the exemption from any implications of being that character – also gives individuals the ability to explore their conception of their own morality and behavioral drivers, while also offering a platform to explore a wider range of perspectives different from one’s own, thus helping to build empathy and view situations holistically and objectively, offering a new vantage point in the blurry domain of ethics. As another viewpoint which was brilliantly articulated to us said – “Ethics is what you do when nobody is watching.”

The entire workshop, from an overarching perspective, was a brilliant journey through the intricacies of our inner most selves, our motivations, default thought processes and the expressions of the same. Through a large variety of tools and neuro-linguistic programming, we succeeded in partially examining ourselves in a new light, through new situations, exposed and open, in order to experience the depths of our selves, understand the complexity of ethics in both a deeper and broader fashion, and contemplate the means in which we may alter or build our moral fabric, based upon the factors which have shaped the same.

Ekta Srivastava

Marketing Leadership Program

SOIL