The fun part of reading and then rereading a book is knowing what is to come in Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen. I am jumping to Chapter 11 for a reason that will be readily apparent. We will slide back into the order of the book next week unless real life suggests we change the order again.
Sen opens this chapter by stating, “Aristotle agreed with Agathon that even God could not change the past.” This is a reason to try to make good choices in the present. The future, on the other hand, is malleable. With luck, we will craft that future based on reason, virtue, and morals. Sen highlights three arguments against this happening (as a means to knock them down). They are:
- The heterogeneity of different people’s preferences and values makes “a coherent framework for reasoned social assessment” impossible.
- Unintended consequences dominate intended consequences.
- Doubts over the range of values and behavioral norms others hold.
We will focus on the second entry, but first, this chapter introduced me to Arrow’s impossibility theorem. The theorem states that no rank-based voting system can be fair and rational. This theorem is a key in the study of how groups make decisions. An association I have been part of for years recently adopted a ranked voting system for the board of directors and did not appreciate the results when a few factions banded together to dominate the vote. Voting in this organization has always occurred based on limited information; a ranked voting system allowed a new plurality to form and marginalize other factions. The plurality overturned what was perceived to be the majoritarian perspective. Without transparency of relationships and intended agenda, this is a problem they will face until the organization fails. The participants need more transparency and a broader data set to make decisions. There are many barriers to a better information flow, including multiple language and cultural barriers on top of an organizational culture where campaigning is frowned upon.
The second point in this chapter is the role and impact of unintended consequences. An unintended consequence is an outcome that we did not intend or foresee. Many gravitate to the attribute of the unforeseen outcome to wash their hands of taking action or to own up to the consequence of a specific action. The author chastens us by stating, “One would have to take a very limited view of history to expect that consequences match expectations as a general rule.” This suggests that an analysis of the range of unintended consequences should be part of social change (transformations). Unintended does not mean unforeseeable but rather not what the intent was. I am currently listening to “Everything Must Go” by Drian Lynskey, a book that recounts the stories humans tell about the end of the world. Just focusing on nuclear weapons makes it easy to identify a long list of unintended consequences if they were to be used. Perhaps some would be unforeseen, but most are as predictable as sunrise. The text also points out that not all unintended consequences are bad. I recently talked with a firm that had adopted a Scrumy kind of Agile to improve transparency with their business partners. They were pleasantly surprised that the quality had improved.
Adam Smith* stated in Wealth of Nations, “The selfish and the rapacious are led by an invisible hand, to advance the interest of society and this they achieve, without intending it, without knowing it.” This quote explains the integral role of unintended consequences in a wide range of human endeavors (capitalism included). The invisible hand represents the unintended consequences that create (or destroy) linkages and commerce. Again, unintended does not equate to unforeseeable. Process improvement is built on a belief that change agents should plan, do, check, and then act (refine). Agile uses the mantra of “inspect and adapt.” Sen states, “Learning by doing is a great ally of the rationalist reformer.” The bottom line is, do your homework, execute, measure or assess the outcome, and then decide how you can continue to move the needle forward.
The final area in this chapter I want to focus on is the section ”The role of values in capitalism.” The sentence, “Well, capitalism is often seen as an arrangement that works only based on greed of everyone, the efficient working of capitalist economy is, in fact, dependent on powerful systems of values and norms.” Values, norms, and behavioral ethics (for example, legal structures) create a structure for a successful market. Erasing values, norms, or ethics may be great short-term negotiating techniques, but in the long run, the behavior destroys the trust needed to establish and nurture relationships. I have seen Scrum teams that are forced to take new work during a sprint stop believing in the process and giving lip service to sprint planning. Sen states, “The basic code of good business behavior is a bit like oxygen: we take an interest in its presence only when it’s absent.”
The absence of the values, norms, and ethics that underpin markets and relationships enables corrupt behaviors. The book states, “Corruption can make public policies ineffective and can also draw investment and economic activities away from productive pursuits toward the towering rewards of underhanded activities.” Corruption simply is the violation of the established rules or norms for personal gain. Corruption violates Adam Smith’s concept of propriety, which is needed for efficient markets.
Corruption is as problematic at the team level as it is for a nation-state. We have all seen teams and organizations create groups to rigorously enforce processes. The need to fight corruption costs time and money and represents an opportunity cost. The problem is that concepts like “move fast and break things” are shorthand for embracing corruption. Sen notes, “Modes of behavior or not, however, immutable. How people behave often depends on how they see — and perceive — others as behaving.” The presence of corruption is like a cancer, it encourages other corrupt behavior.
Word of the week: Sagacity – Acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgment.
Previous installments of Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen:
Week 1: Context and Logistics
Week 2: Introduction and Preface
Week 3: The Perspective of Freedom
Week 4: The Ends and the Means of Development
Week 5: Freedom and the Foundations of Justice
Week 6: Poverty as Capability Deprivation
Week 7: Markets, State, and Social Opportunity
Week 8: The Importance of Democracy
Week 9: Social Choice and Individual Behavior
Week 10: Famines and Other Crises
Week 11: Women’s Agency and Social Change
* Adam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy – Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith 3/7/2025
