Over the weekend I was sent a business plan for a new initiative being set up in remote Australia to address significant and complex issues including health, school retention and employment for Aboriginal Australians. The business plan was well researched, incredibly detailed and I'm sure very compelling to most readers and investors. The catch was…
Can ethics or leadership be done alone?
Can ethics or leadership be done alone? I have thought a lot about this notion in the western world of the individual leader. As a CEO I struggled with the expectation that I needed to be 'accomplished' or effective at all aspects of the business. Of course, I had some people tell me that this…
I know what I know: change through art vs politics
On Friday I managed to catch an incredible documentary: "Under African Skies". It followed Paul Simon as he journeyed back to South Africa to reunite with the musicians he collaborated with to produce the Graceland album. The film had such an impact on me, bringing me to tears on a number of occasions. This album…
A short history of saving the world
Where did the modern idea of charity and doing good come from? The notion of the non-profit as the primary vehicle for change is incredibly new in the grand scheme of Earth's history. There are many drivers behind doing good, and it has also taken many forms and structures in society and community over time.…
Reflecting on writing about ethics
When I started this blog about six weeks ago, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought it would simply be a matter of putting some thoughts to paper. I thought I would let the purpose of the blog unfold and just see where it takes me. As it is…
Ethics for robots
I'm going out on a limb here to talk about something I have very little idea about. I came across this story earlier in The Economist called "Morals and the machine", which explores the development of robotics in certain fields and the emergence of "machine ethics". The article outlines a bunch of areas where robotics…
A not so lonely planet: the ethics of international volunteering
I'm sure this topic has been explored and written about extensively, and I'm keen to find other views on the ethical dimensions of this field. I was recently pitched a business idea by a young woman who was keen to take the staff of private sector companies to developing countries to volunteer in orphanages. This…
Ethics without anger or taking sides
Two questions: can you discuss ethics without taking sides? and can you explore ethics without anger? So far I have received some good feedback on this blog, but one question keeps coming up: when are you going to take sides? When I look around the ethics community, I see how we think this way. It…
What’s your hidden curriculum?
In education there is a term called the hidden curriculum, which refers to unintended outcomes or lessons taught in the classroom. These mostly encompass the soft stuff like values, beliefs, behaviours and norms that are transmitted through the social environment or the behaviour of the educator. As a teacher a number of years ago, I…
Create your own rule
Yesterday I was privileged to meet a couple by the name of Mike and Rose Kennedy, with whom along with others we explored the possibilities of group coaching. We explored loads of topics that will probably become about ten blog posts. The one for today is a deceptively simple and powerful idea about how and…
How To Do Good 