The culture of your team is highly collaborative and positive, so much so that ethical concerns are rarely raised for fear of killing the vibe. Ask an Ethicist columnist Vera Cherepanova and guest ethicist Brennan Jacoby of Philosophy at Work talk about the pitfalls of terminal niceness and how teams with hyper-positive cultures can begin to approach the practice of ethics.
Our team has a great culture. Trust and psychological safety are strong, and everyone always says they feel highly supported. But I worry that our lovely culture might be holding us back: Our uber-positivity and supportiveness makes it hard to challenge each other. When it comes to ethics, I’m concerned that we’re not talking about each other’s morally grey behaviors for fear of being seen as too critical. How can I and my team be better at holding each other to account? — ANONYMOUS
This month, I’m joined by a guest ethicist, Brennan Jacoby, Ph.D., to reflect on a challenge that many high-functioning teams face but rarely admit. How do you hold people accountable in cultures that are overwhelmingly positive? Can accountability feel like disloyalty? And are all “good” cultures actually good for ethics?
Brennan is a philosopher and the founder of Philosophy at Work, a UK-based collective that teaches critical thinking…
