When you get right down to it, ethics is a lot simpler than most people think.

The bottom line is this: When you make decision that decision will effect you and other people. The effect will either be positive or negative. A good way to gauge whether or not you’re making an ethically upstanding decision or not is to ask yourself this question… “If everyone else in the world was doing this what would happen?”

Stop and consider that question. It really hits at the heart of the matter. Consider going to work drunk. If everyone else at work did the same thing, what would happen? When you frame the action you want to take in this context the right thing to do becomes obvious.

If everyone decided to go to work drunk nothing would get done properly. The company would suffer losses, employees would eventually suffer medical, emotional and even psychological problems and the whole place would be in shambles rather quickly. What is right or wrong becomes clear when we think in this sort of absolute manner.

As good as the above question is for solving many of our personal ethical dilemmas it will not help in every case. For this reason, society at large has determined certain actions to be ethically moral and others not. The interesting thing is that different cultures often view similar actions from totally opposite perspectives. For the most part, people around the world are in agreement about basic ethical standards.

There are few societies in which it’s okay to steal, or cheat, or commit adultery. And, of course, you can’t discuss the subject of ethics without touching on morality. That’s because ethics is part of the moral value system.

Ethics is a simple matter of determining what’s right or wrong under given circumstances. Besides asking the question above to determine ethical action, you could also listen to your “inner voice”. That inner voice is your conscience at work. It’s the place within you that will always give you the right answer based on how you feel.

All you have to do is pose the situation to yourself and ask yourself if this is right or wrong. Let’s say, for instance, that you’re walking down the street and a little old lady passes you. As she does you notice a $100 bill fall out of her pocket. What do you do? Take the money and run or return it to her right away. If you’re confused about which action is more ethical just stop and ask yourself this question… “If this happened to me, what would I want the other person to do?”

Again, when you think of things in this way, the answer is obvious. You’d want the other person to return your $100 to you immediately. There’s no question about it. Perhaps, the greatest lesson on ethical behavior was given by Jesus during the Sermon On The Mount. In a nutshell, he said… “Treat others as you would like to be treated.”