Personal Ethical Action Plan (“PEAP”) – Instructions & Assessment Rubric

Instructions

The PEAP supports your learning in important ways. It entails drafting—and revising—a multi-part, self-reflection portfolio of between 2,200 and 3,000 words total.

The purpose of this assignment is to:

1. Increase your self-awareness in terms of the values, emotions, cognitions, and environmental factors influencing your work-related actions and behaviors
2. Challenge you to think about the impact of your values, emotions, cognitions, actions, and behaviors on factors external to you (i.e., other people at work and your broader work environment)
3. Deepen your understanding and application of course concepts
4. Develop your formal writing skills for communicating with a variety of audiences (e.g., professional audiences, the general public)
5. Advance your critical thinking and argumentation skills

PEAP Component	Min words	Max words
Introduction	100	175
P1 A Tale of of Two Stories	400	500
P2 Role Models as Moral Prototypes	150	250
P3 Professional Purpose	150	250
P4 Reasons and Rationalizations: A Cognitive-Emotional Analysis	350	450
P5 Strengths and Opportunities for Improvement: A Behavioral Analysis	450	600
P6 What You Have Learned and What You Will Do With It	500	600
Conclusion	100	175
Appendices (at least 3, as many as you wish). Appendices should appear after the Conclusion.	n/a	n/a
Total	2,200	3,000

Open your PEAP with an Introduction paragraph (100-175 words)

PART 1. A Tale of Two Stories (400-500 words)

Write “A Tale of Two Stories” reflection in paragraph format based on your completed “A Tale of Two Stories” worksheet (adapted from GVV Appendix B).

This section should be written through a values lens. The values-related questions are highlighted in orange in your worksheet to emphasize this.

Appendix 1: Your top five values (print screen from your “Values, etc.” survey)

Most relevant GVV sections: Chapters 2-3 and Appendix B

PART 2. Role Models as Moral Prototypes (150-250 words)

Begin this part with, “I want to do right by ______________.”  (fill in the blank with the name of a person who is your role model)

Identify a living role model who you look up to and deeply respect, and clarify ways in which they motivate your ethical excellence in decision making and behaviors at work. Answer the following questions in your PEAP Part 2:

• What does your role model mean to you: what values do they remind you of? What memories do they evoke when you think of them? What motivations does it surface when you think of them?
• Where will you display a photo of your role model? Based on this plan, when/in what situations will you see it? When/in what situations will others see it?

Appendix 2: A photo of your role model

Most relevant GVV sections: Chapter 2

PART 3. Professional Purpose (150-250 words)

Write a new version of your LinkedIn “About” section with an eye toward ethical excellence. This is a public-facing message that communicates important information about you to existing and potential (i.e., new) contacts.

Answer the following questions in your PEAP Part 3:

• What do you wish to achieve in your career (e.g., in the next 3-5 years) and how will you reach this/these achievement(s)?
  • Guided by what value(s)? Exhibiting what behavior(s)?
• What have you achieved in your career so far and how have you reached this/these achievement(s)?
  • Guided by what value(s)? Exhibiting what behavior(s)?

Appendix 3: A printout/PDF of your LinkedIn profile. (It does not need to incorporate this new addition yet. Rather, this printout/PDF contains the content of the page to which you can add your Professional Purpose statement when you are ready.)

Most relevant GVV sections: Chapter 5

PART 4. Reasons and Rationalizations: A Cognitive-Emotional Analysis (350-450 words)

Between T&N and GVV, we have read about many cognitive biases and emotions that arise when we confront ethical dilemmas. Many of the cognitive biases referred to in GVV Ch. 8 are actually dimensions of moral disengagement.

In this part of your PEAP, discuss a recent (past 2 years) work-related ethical dilemma. Identify and describe the cognitive biases and emotions that arose and reflect on how they influenced your actions and behaviors.

Discuss at least three cognitive-emotional course concepts, with at least one of them being a cognitive bias and at least one of them being an emotion. For each cognitive bias or emotion:

• Identify it (i.e., name it and ensure that it is accurate)
• Define or describe it (e.g., “this cognitive bias refers to..” or “this cognitive bias entails…” or “this cognitive bias is defined as…”)
• Illustrate it with an example. In your example, you should be the person experiencing the cognitive bias/emotion.

Most relevant GVV sections: Chapter 8

PART 5. Strengths and Weaknesses: A Behavioral Analysis (450-600 words)

Discuss 1-2 key strengths and 1-2 key weaknesses (opportunities for improvement) in terms of ethical excellence. Aim for a balanced discussion with mostly equal parts allotted to each discussed strength and improvement opportunity.

The purpose of your PEAP Part 5 is to identify and analyze ways in which behaviors that you display enable your ethical excellence and ways in which behaviors that you display disables your ethical excellence.

PEAP Part 5 should be written through a behavioral lens (i.e., focused on observable [in]action). Specifically, your self-analysis of strengths/weaknesses may discuss behaviors as strengths/weaknesses themselves (e.g., frequently displaying constructive ethical voice may be a strength of yours) OR may discuss behaviors as outcomes of your strengths/weaknesses (e.g., perspective taking may be a cognitive strength of yours which has behavioral outcomes or impacts). Not all of your strengths and weaknesses need to be behaviors themselves, but each strength/weakness discussed should be connected to behaviors in your writing.

For each strength/weakness:

• Identify it (i.e., name it and ensure that it is accurate)
• Define or describe it (e.g., “this strength is cognitive and refers to…” or “this strength is behavioral and is defined as …”)
• Provide evidence in support of your claim that this is a strength/weakness
• Discuss its impact (i.e., how does it enable or disable ethical excellence? for whom does it matter/who does it affect?)

Most relevant GVV sections: Chapter 3

PART 6. What You Have Learned and What You Will Do With It (500-600 words)

Part 6 is a synthesis section that brings together Parts 1 through 5, captures your key insights or lessons learned and identifies tactics you will use to support your ethical excellence moving forward.

Answer the following three main questions in your PEAP Part 6:

• What lessons have you learned through your self-analysis? Ways to answer this question may include discussing the following (these are just ideas to consider):
  • Lessons learned from your own bad/unethical behaviors (given you are a good person)
  • Lessons learned from observing other good people’s bad behaviors
  • Lessons learned when you successfully transformed bad behaviors into ethical excellence, especially in a bad work context
  • Lessons learned from experimenting with pre-scripting enablers
  • Lessons learned from observing others (e.g., coworkers) using pre-scripted enablers
  • Lessons learned about the relationship between values, traits/tendencies, behaviors, cognitions, emotions, work roles, and/or work contexts
• Building on your self-analysis in your PEAP Part 5, how will you amplify your strengths (and their impact) and neutralize your weaknesses (reducing their impact) moving forward?
• Based on your own experience and/or observations of others, (a) what pre-scripts will be most helpful for you in amplifying your strengths (and their impact) and neutralizing your weaknesses (and their impact) and (b) provide a concrete example or illustration of successful use of this pre-script

Most relevant GVV sections: Chapter 3 & 7

Complete your PEAP with a Conclusion paragraph (100-175 words)

Appendices should follow your Conclusion section.