As you approach the magnetic north pole, your compass becomes less accurate. By the time you are on top of the pole, the compass tends to drift. The compass loses its direction.
The same thing can happen to your moral compass. The closer you become to an issue, the more your moral compass can drift. Perhaps you are a politician or business person where the common practice simply is to claim every expense whether related to your activities or not. This seems fine since everyone else you know does the same thing. No one raises a stink.
Until finally a whistle-blower comes along and brings this to the public’s attention. Now, once you back away, get a bit more distance, the accuracy of the moral compass increases.
You may not notice an ethical issue until you pull back and start to include other perspectives and viewpoints. You start asking the typical man or woman on the street about your ‘common practice’. These people confidently state that claiming expenses you are not entitled is wrong. All of a sudden the lack of an accurate moral compass becomes more apparent.
So ask yourself, if your actions hit the front page of the newspaper, how would the public react? If you think they would respond negatively, then rethink your actions.
Live an Untethered Life 