A634.1.5.RB - The Train Dilemma: When no Choice is a Good One!

The train dilemma is an interesting topic. I find myself not answering the question because I need to know so many other details. The ethics of the situation aren’t important to me until I have details about the situation. Even with all the other details, I don’t know that I would be able to fully answer the question.

In the first situation, we have unknown children with an unknown age and condition. It is hard to say in the situation how I would react. Are the 5 children diseased or is the one child a serial killer in the making? These are the important and key facts that are required for anyone to make an ethical decision. 

The elderly man is the same questions and situation. I can’t place myself in that situation because I can’t see it or know any information about the situation. The last question in The Train Dilemma I found myself at the answer before I finished reading the question. I don’t think I would hesitate to save my children. If I was given the situation of picking between my children I don’t know what I would do. I can’t reason picking between my 2 girls.

                I found that after reviewing the questions in The Train Dilemma that ethics really are in how much I rely on details. If someone ignores portions of an ethical dilemma, I think that is worse than being ignorant of important information on a decision. I have seen a lot of managers make poor leaders only because they make quick decision on blaming someone without all the details. The details of a situation take a long time to find but they are there. People need to be justified or held accountable by those details.

                Leaders need to dig into details. If someone is constantly late for work, find out why. Is that person having a rough time at home with their spouse, or are they just a lazy person? I find too often people who are supposed to be a leader ignoring details just because they want to move on to the next Train Dilemma and make a rash decision. We as leaders need to have a drive to understand and not just look at a situations details as too soft. Ethics is about details and to be a leader you have to dig until you have found the bottom or root of the situation.

                Ethical decisions take time to develop. Managers who make rash decision are only going to be manager. Leaders are going to have supporters and followers because they developed the solutions instead of letting the train hit the random person.

                In closing, my final thought on The Train Dilemma is: Why are children playing on train tracks? Where are these parents? I couldn’t get past this question in my ethical decision.