The Ethics of Whimsy

A whimsical action can sometimes be an unethical action but right and wrong are sometime different between the theoretical world of ethics and the down to earth world of work and struggle. When a business person becomes overwhelmed with work they adopt certain strategies to get of the mess. For example, there is a pile of billing invoices to send out but there simply is not time enough to be exact when writing down the material costs .There may not even be time enough to remember what the materials were that went into say the repair of an automobile. But a professional service writer knows fairly accurately the time involved in the job and materials used. Being under pressure and exhausted the service writer might be more demanding about making sure he is fully paid, making the bill slightly more expensive than normal. Sometimes the service writer might be interrupted by a particularly annoying customer demanding a bill right now. Well, they get a bill but with a few extra charges included. Here the owner whimsically twisted the knife deriving some satisfaction in the process brightening his dreary world of work. Whimsy can occur as an emotional release from extraordinary tensions of the day. Think of it this way, you have been overwhelmed and badgered by demands all day. You head out to lunch in your commercial vehicle. There are no parking spots but there is a place in a yellow loading zone open to you. You whimsically assert your power to commandeer the space for non commercial purposes. There is an emotional release that helps sooth the pain of the day in this exercise of power. The infraction of taking the space is in theory unethical but in practice it is legal and no one can do anything about it. Whimsy is such a rare event as to be a minor problem in business.

Consequences:

Few if any. Whimsy by definition is a rare phenomena in business. Even in a large multi national cooperation whimsy has its place. Here whimsy might cause a bill to be increased by $100,000. But the client played a part in pushing the whimsy button of the corporate executive. The source of the overcharge derived from a violation of protocols and decorum on the part of the client. There are reasons why "business must be done in a business like way" using the most cordial of communications—things cost less, and the arbitrariness of whimsy is put to rest.

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Dianic Publications
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