97 Things About Ethics Everyone in Data Science Should Know

Chapter 11. Understand Who Your Leaders Serve

Hassan Masum

Senior Director of Analytics, Prodigy Education

You may have good intentions when it comes to ethics and technology. But you will find it difficult to put your good intentions into practice if your leaders don’t truly serve the people you want to help.

That’s why it is important to understand who your leaders serve. Are the leaders of your organization self-centered, or are they servant-leaders? Do your leaders treat the people your organization serves as exploitable resources or as partners to help thrive? When trying to answer questions like these, take time to understand what your leaders say and do.

If the leaders at the top of your organization serve the same people you want to help (which hopefully includes your team and your clients or customers), then you have some hope of putting ethics into practice. (You will rarely find that easy, but it may at least be possible.) If not, then you will have to continually swim against organizational currents to stay ethically afloat.

If your leaders truly serve the people you want to serve, then applying values can help you and your leaders to serve more effectively. Some values that are particularly relevant to data scientists include transparency, rationality, intellectual humility, and constructive skepticism. If you are a master at living values like these, then show or ...