Entry 2: A Question of Honesty

Hey All-
Been a while, but I just wrote a small tidbit in response to a question posed in my Project Management class and wanted to hear if you had anything thoughts on the matter! I'm hoping to get back into writing more articles soon. Please comment with any thoughts!!!!! So here it is:

Assignment #6 PMI Code of Ethics: A question of Honesty?

            Chapter 5 subset 3.1 of the PMI Honesty Code states “We do not engage in or condone behavior that is designed to deceive others…making misleading or false statements, stating half-truths, providing information out of context or withholding information that…would render our statements as misleading.” (PMI, 2010) While this statement is obviously well intentioned, the real-world application of this provision is somewhat not completely possible. This clause seems to be intended to make it such that the Project Manager will not be able to deceive others through incorrectly stating something. The specific portion that I disagree with, “stating half-truths,” is far too ambiguous in definition. Such a statement can encompass anything from a simple withholding of certain information that might not be pertinent to a situation, to omissions of matters of great importance. Furthermore, even though it might not be a “half-truth”, or more appropriately I would call it simply “not-the-whole-truth”, withholding information might be paramount to the proper execution of a specific task. The only contingency being that the intention behind withholding of information in a statement will: a) not cause those who do not know this information to perform unethical actions; b) that the withholding of knowledge has direct implications for the accomplishment of the project objective.

            Though not directly related to “project management”, one particular example may be seen in the actions of President Obama and the US Special Operations unit between 2010 and 2011. Whether one can consider the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq projects, the underlying ethical code of a person within the context of an organization still applies here. In a June 2010 article, the Washington Post observed “[Obama] has asked for a 5.7 percent increase in the Special Operations budget for fiscal 2011, for a total of $6.3 billion, plus an additional $3.5 billion in 2010 contingency funding.” (DeYoung and Jaffe, 2010) This draws the conclusion that there are operations that even high ranking officials were not informed of; “missions that were so secret that the U.S. ambassador was not told [] were underway.” (DeYoung and Jaffe 2010) Though, given the nature of the operations, information regarding specific details is scarce, at best, the result was magnanimous. Less than a year later, a US Special Operations unit consisting of CIA operatives and US S.E.A.L. soldiers killed Osama Bin Laden – an objective one could akin to a “project objective” – that could only have been accomplished by telling only what was necessary.

            In a personal experience – though naturally the consequences of my actions were far less reaching – the withholding of certain information in a professional environment has been pivotal to the success of a project. In 2009, I worked on a pound-net entrapment project in Virginia. As both a working scientist and a public outreach activist, I worked with both the government and the local fisherman to determine the efficiency, successfulness, and ultimately the future of pound net fishing regulation for the Chesapeake Bay. Working for both sides, however, is a difficult balancing act – being able to gain the trust of the local fisherman whilst maintaining my integrity as a scientist. This meant, for me, not telling everything to the fisherman – not telling them that some of our results proved that some of their means were illegal – not telling them of our current actions and suspicions. This relationship did end up proving crucial in the renegotiation of pound net policy in the Chesapeake Bay; a policy that will help save the lives of many migratory sea turtles.

            The purpose of demonstrating both of those experiences is this – the withholding of certain knowledge in order to achieve a certain end is ethical if the consequent actions of those from whom knowledge is being withheld are ethical. The reason that both of these experiences do not directly pertain to project management is that this specific idea of saying “half-truths” applies not only to project management, but all life experience whether in the context of a project group, a particular community, or even a nation. Though it is not an action that should always be used – not to mention an action that should be used with extreme caution, telling a half-truth can sometimes be the key to allowing certain individuals achieve the success that is needed.

References

DeYoung, K., & Jaffe, G. (2010, June 03). U.s. ‘secret war’ expands globally as special operations forces take larger role. Washington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965.html

PMI Inc. (2010). PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.  Newtown Square, PA.: Project Mangement Institute Inc.

Phillips, M. (2011, May 02). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead