Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage

I showed up to register for my first set of classes at Harvard Graduate School of Education on the morning of September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center attacks played over and over on the small TV screens in Gutman Library with large crowds gathered around, but we all registered for classes without acknowledging what we were seeing, clinging to whatever normality we could find in order to cope with what was unfolding on the very first day of our graduate school journey.

Over the course of the following 20+ years, as both student/alum and then as an administrator, I had a close up view of how Harvard University and its students responded to a number of major world incidents. I oversaw and advised Harvard student groups for more than a decade, so my ears still perk up whenever I hear Harvard student groups mentioned in response to a news story – which happened recently with a letter co-signed by 33 student organizations stating that students “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” in Israel and Gaza.

Posted less than three days after the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, it was not surprising that the statement drew widespread criticism from professors, donors, alumni, and outside organizations, but the backlash went beyond simply pointing out how layered and complicated the political reality was; instead the response was equally as abrupt and blinkered, with some CEOs demanding that Harvard release a list of student names associated with the groups “to insure that none of us inadvertently hire any of their members.”

The murder of George Floyd by police officers in 2020 led to a sea change in companies’ responses to world events; CEOs, social media managers and company spokespeople all had statements in response, and, thankfully, some of them led to real action and change in the pursuit of a more equitable workplace and wider culture. But some public outcries create more noise than light – they add to confusion and actually distract from the issues they proclaim to care about, sometimes completely unintentionally. The “Instagram black square” on Blackout Tuesday led to many more helpful posts becoming lost in a sea of well-meaning but ill-informed allies. Many of the responses to the increasing violence in Israel and Gaza do the same.

I cannot claim to understand the full history of Israel and Palestine (and, as John Oliver points out, a white male Englishman shouldn’t proclaim any answers given Britain’s horrific role in the last, say, several centuries), but I do know there’s room to condemn atrocities and acknowledge that they come not in a vacuum but as part of a densely complicated systemic web of oppression, abuse, and delegitimization over several generations. To choose one ‘side’ to stand by with unwavering support is selective moral outrage.

But selective moral outrage can happen on a personal level in the workplace too. How can each of us recognize and face that this week?

This Week’s Tips:

1. When you find yourself outraged (or simply angry/upset), gather more data. As Chris Argyris’ Ladder of Inference model suggests, human beings are quick to use limited information to form opinions, take actions, and solidify beliefs. The key to avoiding this is to purposefully step off the ladder of inference and back into the pool of available information. This might mean seeking conversations with people of different backgrounds or beliefs, or reading more about this history of the particular situation from as many different sources as possible. Come up with a list of “wondering” open-ended questions which you can use as a prompt for further research.
2. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in indecision. Understanding that a situation is more complicated than you initially thought doesn’t mean you can’t take action. Indeed, you may take action and find that, as well-meaning as you were, it was the wrong action to take. But consider the possibility that taking no action is a choice with its own consequences.

Try using these tips this week, and let us know how it goes – we’d love to hear from you. As always, you can subscribe to our feed here, or sign up for our weekly newsletter to get these articles directly in your inbox.