Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose Between Right and Right [Hardcover]

Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1997

"Defining moments," according to Badaracco, occur when managers face business problems that trigger difficult, deeply personal questions. In deciding how to act, managers reveal their inner values, test their commitment to those values, and ultimately shape their characters. Badaracco builds a framework for approaching these dilemmas around three cases of increasing complexity, reflecting the escalating responsibilities managers face as they advance in their careers. The first story presents a young man whose choice will affect him only as an individual; the second, a department head, whose decision will influence his organization; the third, a corporate executive, whose actions will have much larger, societal ramifications. To guide the decision-making process, Badaracco draws on the insights of four philosophers--Aristotle, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, and James--because they offer practical rather than theoretical advice. He thus bridges the gap between classroom philosophy and corporate pragmatism. The result is a flexible framework that managers can draw on to resolve issues of conflicting responsibility in practical ways.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This solid, penetrating work, obviously deeply felt by the author, is likely to be well received by boomer managers. --Library Journal

"The book is well-crafted, readable and interactive. --USA Today -- USA Today

From the Back Cover

"So much of making sound decisions comes from asking smart questions. Defining Moments asks all the right questions in a way that will help any manager who wants to reach judgments that are morally sensitive and professionally sensible." --George Stephanopoulos, Visiting Professor at Columbia University, political analyst for ABC, and former adviser to the Clinton Administration

Defining Moments outlines a refreshingly realistic approach to ethics in management. Badaracco shows how managers can choose, without sacrificing their values, between multiple acceptable solutions--not the one right answer that most ethicists claim exists. It is a book to be put into practice, not just read and set aside. --Andrall Pearson, Chairman & CEO, Pepsico Food Division

Critical decisions between shades of right are inescapable in our professional and personal lives and do create defining moments' for each of us. Badracco brings a clarity to the decision process that I did not think possible. --Gail Long, Senior Vice President, Group Executive, Large Corporate, BankBoston

Finally, here's a book that helps us prioritize our personal and institutional loyalties and responsibilities in decision making, wend our way through real-life moral mazes, and develop our character in the process. A crystal-clear, practical writer, Badaracco provides a new and unorthodox approach to issues of great complexity. He offers pragmatic assistance to real people weighing conflicting duties, ends, and virtues of business life. --William McLennan, University Chaplain, Tufts University

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; 1 edition (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875848036
• ISBN-13: 978-0875848037
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #139,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the subject. July 12, 2000

By Rita Risser

Format:Hardcover

As an attorney who teaches business ethics inside corporations, I've read many books on this subject. This is the best. It focuses on the way real world ethical dilemmas arise -- not in decisions between right and wrong, but between two options, both of which are "right." This is a short, practical, readable book that really makes you think.

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tackling the Dilemmas of Ethical Choices June 18, 2001

By Patrick Merlevede

Format:Hardcover

A few weeks ago a customer of mine asked my assistance to help his organisation to write an ethical code. I knew he had been "working" on this topic for the last 2 years and that he had been applying some of the principles I teach in my emotional intelligence classes. Apparently, this hadn't been enough to solve his problem, but it was enough to come back to me to seek my advice. This was one of the books I bought to document myself on the issue.

This book was a good resource by providing me different points of views concerning the question, and by pointing out that it's not a simple matter of making a choice (for instance, one lead by intuition and emotions, as is recommended sometimes). The cases presented point to several kinds of dilemmas: the personal ones (choosing between what's right for you and for the organisation), the managerial ones (choosing between the organisation and the people that ore working for it) and the social ones (choosing between the organisation and the larger social system it's a part of). The book also points out different sources we have for basing our decisions on.

The problem remains that values and principles often point into different directions. Ethical choice techniques such as the "sleep-test", the "golden rule" and other sources of inspiration do not solve this.

Learning from that, it becomes clear why one should not expect to find the answers to your ethical problems in this book. Finding "the" answer is "impossible". In a "defining moment", you will have to examine which values you are committed to, these values will be put to test (will you go for their implications) and they will shape your future.... I believe (with the author) that there are no easy answers to the *real* issues we are faced with. That's why this book shows in what way you have to search for your answer. Reading this book will at least allow you to ask the right questions and to look at various aspects in order to make a personal choice.

If I would have read this book earlier, my own book would certainly have included a reference to it.

What will I tell my customer? Well, writing the "code" won't be enough, in stead we should focus on teaching people how to make an ethical choice.

Patrick E.C. Merlevede, M.Sc is the main author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence" Read more ›

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book on Ethics (for everyone) May 8, 2001

By Damon Timm

Format:Hardcover

While this book may seem catered towards business management issues (and the examples given in the text are), the ideas, values and approaches presented within the text are universal. I, myself, am not a "business person" or "manager" and found this book extremely enlightening and helpful, and can apply the values and examples to my own life and work.

The basic premise of the book revolves around (what Badaracco calls) the "defining moments" of an individual's life; these are instances in which a person is faced with a decision that has no clear "right vs. wrong" answer (which he calls a "right vs. right" question), yet the decision the individual makes will define who the person is in times that follow. He uses three different examples of real-life quandaries that managers have faced in the past (as well as their conclusions). Badaracco does not tell his audience how they should act in a given situation, but instead, gives the audience the introspective tools needed to make better decisions that support who they are as an individual.

Again, terrific book and well worth anyone's time who is interested in the ethical decision making process.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Defining Moments" A management mirror October 9, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit in a management development class with Aristotle, Machiavelli and Nietsche all firing questions at you? I had a blast reading through the challenging case studies in this book. The author takes you "crop dusting" through personal right/right decisions that make you realize all of the aspects of your personal value system matched up against your oganizational mission. He then cruises up to about 30,000 feet with an employee/manager problem that exemplifies the scope and impact of your decisions as a manager. Just when you thought it was OK to have a beer in first class, he puts on the afterburners for a climb up to 100,000 feet with a perplexing global impact decision that faced a drug company and it's chief executive officer. As a front line operations manager with about 6 years of management experience - I have even greater respect for my peers and my organization and the decisions we make. However, I have even greater respect for the intelligent CEO's who are torn by unbelieveable decisions and come through smelling like a rose. This book is a mirror that reflects your responsibility as a manager and a tool in helping you balance the scales between managing people and profits. You will sleep much easier with your business decisions after considering the questions that our forementioned friends will fire at you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars This is how b-people think. January 7, 2012

By Nut

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this book for a class several years ago and it seemed enlightening at the time. Ethical dilemma? Circumnavigate it and achieve the original goal, have your cake and eat it too.

However, something just didn't feel right. As I joined the business world and experienced dilemmas for myself, I now characterize the tone of the book as "the result is what matters".

This book is probably most useful for a PR or other type of spokesman. It's about putting the politically correct spin on things (supported by token actions) to go after the desired goal. It's worth reading to understand how businesspeople (and lawyers, politicians and other public figures) may speak and think. But if something doesn't feel right on a purely ethical level, you're not alone.