Heuristics & tooling
For
Open & Critical & Ethical & Reasoning
Ethical and autonomous behaviour
requires open communication
of all decisions and choices made,
and of all reactions upon decisions and choices made by others.
Open reasoning communicates
Open reasoning communicates the way you reason. It allows others to see how you reason and gives them the opportunity to argue with you -or against you.
Our heuristics for deciding, choosing and responding allow you to share your reasoning easily and to work on it with others.
Only when you open up your arguments for others, others can open themselves up to your premises.
Critical reasoning argues
Critical reasoning challenges the argumentation of your decisions, choices and reactions, especially argumentation derived from the paradigms of your profession and from the context in which you reason.
Others can challenge you, but you can also challenge yourself. Then critical thinking becomes exploratory thinking -and even that you can do together with others.
Our easy to share heuristics allow you to reason and to challenge time and place independent. And independent of any hierarchical position. Preserving your privacy in a secure setting.
Ethical reasoning questions
Ethical reasoning questions your reasoning from the good.
Good reasoning has five characteristics, in our opinion. It is founded, usable, conscientious, compliant and follows a code of conduct.
To what extent your reasoning is ethical, might be determined with our checklist ethical reasoning. That list will question your reasoning using the five characteristics. It might even question the reasoning of others.
Reasoning = deciding, choosing or responding (DCR)
Reasoning is acting. Reasoning is a “think act”. Your reasoning influences the world, or at least your environment.
You influence your environment by deciding, choosing or responding (DCR). You improve your environment by doing that ethically.
That is why we present you our heuristics for deciding, choosing and reacting, and a checklist for ethical reflection thereon.
OCER in a code of conduct
Your organisation uses a code of conduct -or it should apply one.
A code of conduct might seem somewhat theoretical. It certainly transcends your daily worries.
We use a format for codes of conduct that formulates standards from four perspectives for ethical behaviour:
that of the society, that of the employer or the customer, that of the profession, and that of the professional.
We present you a template that you can tweak for your profession or your organisation.
You can also find the four perspectives in the ethical checklist “code of conduct”.
OCER earning your daily bread
In your daily work you will regularly decide, choose and respond (DCR). And perhaps you will even sometimes reflect critically and ethically on your DCR.
To us, open, critical & ethical thinking is open and transferable deciding, choosing or responding, that is always questioned on foundation, usability, conscience, compliance and code of conduct.
Our three heuristics for open, communicating and accountable reasoning, and the five checklists for critical, ethical, compliant and coded reasoning make it possible to apply this kind of thinking in your daily work.
OCER in a format, three heuristics and a checklist
A format
Our format for codes of conduct formulates standards from four perspectives for ethical behaviour: that of the society, that of the employer or the customer, that of the profession, and that of the professional.
With the format we present a template that you can tweak for your profession or your organization.
A specified code is useful in HR policy and in accountability documents.
Three heuristics
With three heuristics for open and critical reasoning, we try to facilitate your daily thinking actions in such a way, that they become easier to communicate, that you can collaborate on them with colleagues and others, off line and on-line, and that they are useful for prospectuses, or in a planning & control-cycle.
A checklist
Ethical reasoning is founded, usable, conscientious and compliant to a code of conduct.
The ethical checklist consists of five questionnaires, which question the extent to which your reasoning is founded, usable, conscientious and compliant.
All in one workbench
For the code of conduct, the heuristics and the checklist, we provide you with useful tools in MsOffice format, compiled in a single workbench.
This provides you with an integrated multitool for deciding, choosing, responding and reflecting.
O + C + E =
Open + critical + ethical = integrity
A person who argues critical, open, communicative and responsible, and who checks his argumentation ethically, acts with integrity.
Open + critical + ethical = compliant
An organization that argues open, critical, communicative and responsible, and checks all argumentation ethically, is compliant -even beyond the formal boundaries of laws and regulations.
Such an organization can engage in discussions about corporate social responsibility with a peace of mind. Whether it engages a discussion with supervisors or one with stakeholders or with the society.
Open + critical + ethical = (good) governance
An organization that argues open, critical, communicative and responsible, and checks all argumentation ethically, can realize its policy objectives and communicate them, and can justify the realization. Whether internally, or to supervisors and shareholders.
Open + critical + ethical = 21St Century skills
On the rankings of T-shaped professionals And 21St-century skills Competences such as thinking critically and acting ethically are invariably in the top 10.
Training or Coaching?
We train employees and teams. We train them in the use of our heuristics and tools, to help you achieve your organization’s goals.
We coach individual employees, but also teams, projects and products. We coach them in their contribution to the strategic, tactical or operational goals of your organisation.
Training and coaching can be combined, and consultancy can be added to your liking.
Training
Courses on OCER will take four to eight sessions of three hours, depending on the amount of case studies the customer wants to analyse.
After concise introductions on the heuristics and the checklist, the participants will be applying the tools on their own cases and reflect on the results together.
Program, for example
- Deciding, choosing or responding? + case study
- Decide + case study
- Choose + case study, Respond + case study
- Checklist ethical reasoning + case study
Stress test and master thesis
Prior to a course the participants can send a case study to the trainer, who will stress test the case with the three heuristics and the checklist. The results of that test might be used as examples in the course.
Afterwards the participants can send the trainer another case study. That case will act as the participants “master thesis”. PP will determine whether the heuristics and checklist are properly applied and will estimate whether the case will add value to the participants’ organizations.
Coaching
Each coaching program will be tailor-made, in consultation with the customer. In addition, all or a few heuristics can be deployed, with or without the checklist. Participants can propose counseling on existing or even to-build products, processes of policies.
All the tools are included
For the heuristics and the checklist we provide you useful tools in MsOffice-format.
You can find them as an appendix to the E-Handbook OCER, that we will send you well in advance.
More information?
Request a free introductory meeting:
P.P. Verroen
pp@ppverroen.nl
+31 (0) 6 547 18 274