I think I come down closer to Christopher Fahey's side of this spectrum. I think it's necessary to *understand* the values and intents of my employer but that doesn't require me to wholeheartedly adopt them. Nor does it make me less professional, I think, if I do that.
Being a paid professional means, in part, that I'm paid to bring in my expertise and ethics, not check them at the door. Insofar as they're in conflict with the clients and the clients' work then the question is upon me to determine whether that conflict is important enough to raise, and what is the appropriate way to raise it. The example of refusing work is an extreme one, but it has arisen for me and I've taken that path. I prefer to take an approach, though, that puts my own ethical concerns within the framework of a professional evaluation. When that's possible it's a much nicer approach. --Alan On 10/19/07, Chris Borokowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What I pointed out was that when you are paid to do a task, you are > paid to adopt the values and intents of your employers. > > I did not say you did not have the choice of employers. > > I am merely stating one facet of business reality. If this reality is > offensive, I suggest you take it up with those responsible. > > --- Christopher Fahey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Chris Borokowski wrote: > > > As a designer or any other employee, you're a mercenary. Your job > > > is to > > > adopt the values of your audience and create for them. > > > > Speak for yourself. :-) Being a mercenary is not the same as being a > > > > professional. > > > > I, for one, will not adopt my audience's, boss's, or client's values > > > > if they conflict with my own personal values. I try to work with > > clients who are classy enough to be in synch with my values so I > > don't have to face such a dilemma. My company has even (twice) > > declined to talk to potential clients whose values were opposed to > > our own. We are human beings, after all, who have to sleep at night > > and tell our friends and family about what we do. > > > > You probably/hopefully meant "values" as less of a moral/ethical > > issue and more of an empathy issue, but all the same it's troubling > > to be urged to be a mercenary. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
