Show-Me 4-H Character
Module 4
Making Good Decisions
Controlling
Choices
“Your life is the sum result of all the
choices you make, both consciously
and unconsciously. If you can
control the process of choosing, you
can take control of all aspects of
your life. You can find the freedom
that comes from being in charge of
yourself.”
U.S. Senator Robert F. Bennett,
a member of a
bi-partisan CHARACTER COUNTS!
Working Group in the Senate
Making Ethical
Decisions
Making ethical decisions is
about choosing among options
according to ethical principles.
It is about doing what is right.
Power &
Responsibility
All your words and actions, and
even your attitude, reflect
choices.
A Foundation for Good
Decision Making:
Two Core Principles
1.We all have the power to decide
what we do and say.
2.We are morally responsible for
the consequences of our
choices.
Feeling Out of Control
The power to choose is not
always evident to youth who are
learning to deal with emotions
and impulses intensified by
hormonal changes.
 Emotions may create moods
and reactions that seem beyond
their control.

Consequences
& Stakeholders
Each person who can be
affected by a decision has a
“stake” in that decision and a
moral claim on the decisionmaker to make the decision
wisely and ethically.
Good Decisions Are
Both Effective and
Ethical
Effective decisions move
toward the decision- maker’s
most important goals.
Ethical decisions reflect
commitment to the Six Pillars of
Character.

Qualities of a Good
Decision
Good decisions are both
effective and ethical.
Good decisions are rational,
not rationalizations.
Good decisions reflect both
discernment and discipline.

Good Decisions Are
Rational,
Not Rationalizations
Rational decisions result from
careful reasoning; evaluating the
effectiveness and ethics of
options.
Rationalizations justify
decisions the decision-maker
wants to make or has already
made.

Good Decisions
Require Both
Discernment &
Discipline
Knowing what to do and doing it.
 Discernment – the ability to evaluate
facts and potential consequences
from a practical and moral
perspective.
 Discipline – the strength of character
to do what should be done even
when it is costly or uncomfortable.
Taking Choices
Seriously:
Recognizing
Important Decisions
All Decisions
Are Not Equal
Most choices don’t require
serious forethought because
the issues are not morally
complex and the stakes are
not high.

All Decisions
Are Not Equal
Young people should be
taught that many everyday
decisions have potentially
momentous consequences.
When Is a Decision
Important?
Every decision has
consequences.
A Simple Formula:
The greater the potential
consequences, the more need
there is for careful decision
making.

Recognizing
Important
Decisions

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Five Questions:
Is there possible danger of physical
harm to you or anyone else?
Could you or someone else suffer
serious emotional pain?
Could the decision hurt your
reputation?
Could the decision impede achieving
any important goal?
Could you or someone else suffer
significant monetary or property loss?
A Seven Step
Decision-Making
Process
Seven Steps to
Good Decisions
1. Stop and Think
2. Clarify Goals
3. Determine Facts
4. Develop Options
5. Consider Consequences
6. Choose
7. Monitor and Modify
1. Stop and Think
“Thinking before you speak” is
not only a vital aspect of selfcontrol, it is a prerequisite to
kindness and respect.
If young people are taught to
pause to consider how their
words might cause hurt feelings,
anger or sadness they are likely
to make better choices and have
better relationships.

2. Clarify Goals
Good decision-makers clarify
and prioritize their goals.
 Before you choose, know
what you want to accomplish
over both the short and longterm.
 Determine which desires
affected by the decision are
the most important.
3. Determine Facts:
Guidelines
Consider the reliability and credibility of
the people who are giving you facts.
Consider the basis of the supposed facts
— honesty, accuracy, from memory, etc.
Remember that assumptions, gossip and
hearsay are not the same as facts.
Consider all perspectives, but be careful
to consider if the source has values,
biases or self-interests that affect his
perception of the facts.
Be careful to distinguish well-grounded
opinions from casual speculation,
conjecture or guesswork.

4. Develop Options
Good decision-makers make a
mental or written list of options,
a range of things they could do
to accomplish their goals.
5. Consider
Consequences


Filter your options through
the Six Pillars of Character.
Identify the stakeholders and
how they will affect them.
6. Choose
Select an option, make your choice, and
proceed to implement it.
If you still have doubts:
 Talk to someone whose judgment
you respect.
 What would the most ethical person
you know do?
 What would you do if everyone
knew?
 Practice the Golden Rule.
 Apply other decision-making
models.
7. Monitor and Modify
Good decision-makers
monitor the effectiveness
of their choices to see if
they are working out as
intended.
 If the initial choice was
ineffective, they modify
their position and make
new decisions based on
current information.

Exploring the Ethical
Dimension of Good
Decisions


When ethical principles conflict and
there is no clear right response, you
must make a choice as to which
principle to honor.
Resolve ethical conflicts by using a
decision-making strategy that helps
you see the moral implications of
your choices, sort out the competing
claims and evaluate the long-term
consequences of each option.
Strategies for
Making
Ethical Decisions

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Publicity test
Role model test
Parenting test
Bell, book & candle test
Rule of respect
Rule of universality
Golden Rule
JI decision-making model
The Publicity Test
What would you do if
you knew that your
decision and the true
reasons behind it
would be reported on
the front page of the
newspaper or on the
10 o’clock news?
The Role Model
Test
When faced with a difficult
decision, think of an ethical
role model — someone whose
integrity and courage you
admire — and ask, what would
that person do?
What would ____ do?




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What would Mother Teresa
do?
What would Superman do?
What would Forest Gump do?
What would your mother do?
What would ___________ do?
The Parenting Test
Your notions of right
and wrong and how
someone else ought to
act are particularly
acute when you think
of yourself as a
parent.
Bell, Book and
Candle
Listen for the bells warning
you of an ethical issue.
Check to see if there are any
laws, regulations or rules
that restrict your choices.
How will your decision look
in the light? Could a reasonable,
fair-minded person conclude
you acted improperly?
Rule of Respect
All individuals are important
and the well-being of each is a
moral end in itself; never treat
others as simply the means for
our own gain or gratification.
Rule of Universality
Do only those acts which
you are willing to allow to
become universal
standards of behavior
applicable to all people in
similar situations.
Ask yourself: If everyone
did it, would it be a good
thing?
Do unto others
as you would
have them do
unto you.
Module Four – Making Good Decisions
35
© 2004 Josephson Institute
JI Character-Based
Decision-Making
Model



Ethical decisions take into account the
interests and well-being of all persons
likely to be affected by your actions
(“stakeholders”).
Ethical decisions put the core ethical
values of the Six Pillars above others.
If it is clearly necessary to violate one
core ethical value to honor another core
ethical value, do the thing that you
sincerely believe will produce the
greatest amount of good in the long
run.