Navigating ethical dilemmas can be a complex and challenging task, but books like “How Good People Make Tough Choices” offer guidance and practical tools to help us make conscious and responsible decisions. With a focus on self-reflection and a deeper understanding of our values, these books empower us to improve our professional success and build stronger relationships.
Filled with extensive scientific research and insightful advice, these books provide a valuable resource for anyone facing difficult moral choices. If you’re looking for more books like “How Good People Make Tough Choices,” here are 6 recommendations to consider:
1. You’re About to Make a Terrible Mistake:
When we make a choice, we hardly stop to think about it. So, the question is how to trust our intuition, and how can we avoid our cognitive biases when unaware?
Professor and management consultant Olivier Silbony’s strategy shows how cognitive biases routinely lead all of us into nine common decision-making traps. Then, he offers a bold new approach to avoid the pitfalls of prejudices. It is a system of techniques and processes with a collective intelligence that helps leaders make the best judgments possible. In this regard, he provides 40 concrete methods.
The book uses the latest behavioural economics and cognitive psychology developments with clarity and practicality. It offers highly actionable and easy tips to make smart and effective decisions in every field.
2. Moral Courage by Rushworth M. Kidder:
The book discusses the issue of moral courage, which has been around for a long time. What forces people to uphold principles to risk their future? What gives people the strength to stand up for what they believe? Some issues like abusive priests, cheating students, and domestic violence force us to take ethical stands and make them a higher priority. Kidder also reveals that moral courage is a bridge between talking ethics and doing ethics because people, despite discerning wrongdoing, are unable to act.
He defines moral courage as a readiness to endure danger for the sake of principle. The courage to act is found at the intersection of three elements:
- Action based on core values
- An awareness of the risks
- Willingness to endure hardship
The book helps us to come at clear and confident choices by exploring some litmus test questions:
- Are the benefits worth the risks?
- Is the motivation to act to uphold beliefs or to impose them on others?
- Will your actions create collateral damage among those with no stake in the outcome?
3. Giving Voice to Values:
Drawing upon actual business experiences and social science research, the author provides tips to recognize what is right. Though everyone knows the right thing to do, people have trouble implementing it. The book ushers us into an era of responsibility and leadership based on values. As a life coach, the author explains why past attempts at preparing business leaders to act ethically often failed. What the book intends to distil in leaders can be summed up as:
- The issue is not distinguishing what is right or wrong but how to act on your values despite opposing pressure.
- Gentile empowers business leaders to act upon their values and align their professional paths with their principles.
She explains why past attempts to prepare business leaders to act ethically too often failed, arguing that the issue isn’t distinguishing right or wrong but knowing how to work on your values despite opposing pressure. Through research-based advice, practical exercises, and scripts for handling a wide range of ethical dilemmas, Gentile empowers business leaders with the skills to voice and act on their values and align their professional path with their principles. Giving Voice to Values is an engaging, innovative, and useful mentor that is essential reading for anyone in business.
4. The Long Game:
“The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World” is a book by Dorie Clark. It discusses the importance of thinking and planning for the long term in today’s fast-paced, short-term-oriented world. It argues that to succeed, one must take a long-term perspective and focus on building skills, relationships, and knowledge that will be valuable throughout one’s work life.
The book has three main parts. In the first section, Clark discusses the importance of developing a long-term vision and values in shaping one’s goals and priorities. The second section discusses the practical steps individuals can take to create a long-term mindset, including creating a strong network and developing new skills. Finally, the last section explores how to apply the principles of long-term thinking in various settings, including business, nonprofit organizations, and politics.
5. Words that Hurt:
It explores the power of language and its impact on us. The book explains why it is important to use language thoughtfully and with consideration for others. Also, it helps us communicate effectively and respectfully in various situations.
The author examines how words can hurt or harm others and the negative consequences of such language. Then, he focuses on using language to strengthen relationships and provides tips for effective communication. Lastly, he explores the role of language in shaping our thoughts and perceptions and discusses the importance of using language to inspire and motivate others.
6. You are What you Risk:
“You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World” is a book by Michele Wucker that explores the role of risk-taking in personal and professional decision-making. The book argues that risk is an inescapable part of life and that identifying, assessing, and managing risk is essential to success.
In his book, Michele discusses the risks individuals and organizations face and the factors influencing risk-taking behaviour. He talks about techniques to assess and manage risk and directs us to develop a risk-aware mindset. In the end, he explores the role of chance in shaping our lives and careers and discusses the importance of taking calculated risks to be successful.
