Electricity + Control May 2016

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The views expressed in this publication are

not necessarily those of the publisher, the

editor, SAAEs, SAEE, CESA, IESSA or the

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have been inundated with feedback relating to

the April comment. I followed it up, with a bit of

a foray into the life and times of South Africa,

on FaceValue.

It is simply no longer possible to navigate busi-

ness, and even social discourse, without measuring

every decision and comment on the correct state

of our nation. By this I imply the

real

state of the

nation. A conversation I have with my children re-

lates to how bad things were. We tend to view the

past through rose-tinted spectacles… I doubt, for

instance, that politicians were ever all-honourable

and law-abiding; I doubt that service delivery was

ever adequate in most places; I doubt that state-

owned companies were squeaky clean and only

made wise decisions that the entire population

applauded.You get the point?

Some of the issues plaguing our society today

remind me of interactions I have had, over many

years, with researchers, professionals and educa-

tors. These conversations relate to ethics; in the

profession, in research, in science, and even in one’s

personal life. Conversations that speak to some kind

of an internal moral compass. People in question

today try to justify their action or inaction with ’the

law’ – what the law says, or what they think it says

– or does not say. I was mystified to hear a formal

comment that, as there is no rule, there is no need

to modify behaviour – and there are many cases of

that in every country you care to imagine.

This completely misses the point. The point is

that we need to be guided by ethics.When I engage

educators in the context of the ethics of scientific

investigation, I begin my discussion by ensuring

that we all agree on what ethics are. I like to think

of ethics as the principles that guide our actions in

the absence of rules. In other words, even if there is

no rule, no law, nothing written down, how should

I behave in a given set of circumstances? I have

encountered many people who have no moral com-

pass at all (and that is why we need to have rules);

and equally, I know those who need no written

rules – as their personal rules are without reproach.

Two things come to the fore: The need to be seen

to act beyond reproach; and the need to appreciate

that the more influential you become as an indi-

vidual, the more your ethics must hold sway (and

be seen to hold sway) over mere rules. Rules are

put in place by society for those who do not see the

obvious behavioural traits that make a society great.

I find myself, as a result of these thoughts,

watching behaviour and thinking through the eth-

ics versus rules debate. You see, you would apply

your own ethics whether or not anyone else was

watching; and certainly whether or not you would

be caught for not following them. In fact, you have

a personal leeway. You cannot tell the truth all the

time – sometimes it is possible to do less harm by

not being entirely truthful (perhaps you can think

of an example?).

But in the case of rules, your ethics may dictate

how you treat the rules. I know of many people,

some in fairly responsible roles, whose only con-

sideration of the rule is if they are found to have

broken it – and must face the consequence. Until

this point, the rule simply holds no sway.

People in similar positions to myself take advice

from lawyers on a regular basis. At no time can

we allow our ethics to be violated simply because

no rule exists for the matter in hand. If something

seems unjust or wrong, or even inappropriate to us,

then we are bound to act accordingly. If the rules

suggest that we have nothing to worry about, we

need tomake a personal choice as to how to behave.

Most of the truly great folk I know (and know of) are

guided by their personal moral compass.

Watching how others behave allows us a true

view of their own moral compass.

Ian Jandrell

Pr Eng,

BSc (Eng) GDE PhD,

FSAIEE SMIEEE

COMMENT

May ‘16

Electricity+Control