• "Everyone else is doing it."
• "If I don't do it someone else will."
• "It's not against the law."
• "It really doesn't hurt anyone."
• "No one will ever know."

• "Everyone else is doing it." This is a justification children often use with their parents — "all the other kids are doing it, so it's okay for me as well." In truth, we are each responsible for our own ethical behavior, and it does not matter what any one else is doing. If you find you are in a situation where everyone else is shading the truth or bending the rules, you may need to find a new situation. It is not an excuse to act in an unprincipled way.
• "If I don't do it someone else will." This handy excuse may be most commonly employed when there is a long lineup of people willing to do something unethical. For example, the head of a large business asks a salesman to do something unethical (e.g., contract to sell a product to a customer and then substitute goods of a lesser quality for the original product). An unprincipled salesman rationalizes that if he says "no", there are plenty of other salespeople who will say "yes.” Plus, they will have the benefit of pleasing the boss. It's important to remember that doing the right thing is not always easy but it is, nonetheless, the right thing.
• "It's not against the law." There are many actions that are not strictly illegal, but that violate the spirit of the law. Consider the teenager who has been told by her parents not to go to Fast Food Restaurant Chain A. She knows that her parents object to fast food in general, but rationalizes having lunch at Fast Food Restaurant Chain B, because they didn't specifically name it as off-limits. Any time you find yourself engaging in that kind of hair-splitting, you can be pretty sure that you are trying to get away with something that is ethically questionable.
• "It really doesn't hurt anyone." This justification is often used when someone is stretching the truth. For example, a speaker at a conference makes his presentation more powerful by adding personal anecdotes that he claims are true, but that are really exaggerations. Or a researcher claims that every person she interviewed preferred strawberry over grape jelly, when only 18 of 20 people did. In fact, these embellishments do hurt someone — they hurt the person who uses this rationalization to justify her actions.
• "No one will ever know." This rationalization assumes that unprincipled actions are acceptable as long as they remain secret ("no one saw me take the cookie from the cookie jar, so it's okay"). It also suggests that others — family members, employers, colleagues — are responsible for regulating our behavior. In fact, the responsibility to behave ethically resides within each individual, and it is up to each of us to make sound choices, whether or not any one else knows.

The One Minute Ethics Test
It is inevitable that consumers will confront actions and choices in their work that challenge their own principles. Here are three quick tests to use when that happens. These tests do not tell us how to solve the dilemmas we face, but they do alert us when our values and beliefs are being compromised.

1. The Butterfly Test. This is an internal test, and for many people it is completely involuntary. It refers to that queasy feeling we get in our stomachs, sometimes called butterflies. When we are upset or bothered by a decision we are about to make, our bodies may alert us. This "gut reaction" may signal an ethical conflict and alert us that one of our values is being threatened.
2. The Momma test. This test asks us to imagine how we would feel if our Mothers (or other people whose opinions are important to us) were looking over our shoulders as we were facing a particular dilemma. Would we want them to hear our internal debate? Would they be proud of our thoughts and actions? Another version of this test is to imagine that one of our children is faced with the dilemma. How would we advise them?
3. The Front Page test. This test asks us to consider if we would be comfortable having our actions reported in the local newspaper. Does our behavior hold up to public scrutiny? What would our neighbors think about our decision-making? If we are uncomfortable being a front-page story, we may be facing an ethical conflict.

Reaching the Right Decision
Even with the 12 Fundamentals for Practice to guide them, consumers are likely to encounter complex and unexpected circumstances in their work. When facing a conflict of values, the following step-by-step approach to decision-making can lead to wise actions in resolving a dilemma. It encourages consumers to be explicit about their values, and intentional in their approach to resolving ethical conflicts.

1. Know your principles. Regularly reaffirm your values and beliefs. Review the Fundamentals for Practice from time to time. Talk about them with your family, your friends, and other consumers.
2. Identify the problem. When a dilemma arises, be explicit about your concern. What is it about the situation that is troubling? Identify the issues and potential conflicts.
3. Propose alternative solutions. Think about the ways you might solve the problem. Be creative and brainstorm a variety of approaches that you could use.
4. Test each alternative against your principles. Once you have a list of possible solutions reflect on how each one “feels.” Identify the solutions that are consistent with your values and beliefs. Eliminate those that are not.
5. Talk to a trustworthy individual. Seek out a person whose judgment you value. Ask them to be a sounding board as you talk through your options. Listen carefully to their feedback.
6. Choose an alternative. Decide on an option for action. Can you live with it? If not, try other solutions from your list until you feel comfortable with your decision. Be sure your choice reflects your principles.
7. Commit yourself to your decision. When you decide on your course of action, move ahead. But accept that you could make a mistake. These kinds of decisions are difficult and require repeated and ongoing effort. The goal of this process is to make the best choice you can with the information you have, not to make perfect choices. Learn from your failures and your successes.