[wordup] Fair Process

[Adam Shand]

I thought this was an interesting discussion on what fair process means. 
  I also liked this little story farther down the page:

   One interesting related idea was in an article about possible risks in
   "neural net"-based programs for evaluating loan requests. The goal is
   to feed the program the information about the applicants, and train
   the program to make low/medium/high-risk kind of decisions similar to
   an experienced loan-processing manager. Some people are concerned that
   such a neural net may learn to mimic human discrimination (called
   "redlining" in the loan industry). See [1] for the article, and [2]
   for several replies.

   Apparently a similar case occurred around 1987 in a similar system
   used to screen applicants to a medical school. When they studied the
   program, they found that it attached some weight to the applicant's
   name. Apparently, the program detected a correlation between names of
   ethnic minorities and the results typically given by a human
   decision-maker. In some cases, simply changing the name of an
   applicant could change the results. See [2] for the story (near the
   end).

From: http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?FairProcess

Traditionally, people--especially economists--thought that human 
behaviour was dictated by outcomes. That is, we seek to maximize our 
outcomes, like getting a large profit. Consequently, most of the 
incentives and disincentives in business are outcome-centred like 
bonuses or suspensions. Working to maximize outcomes is called 
distributive justice.

In the mid-seventies, the social scientists John W. Thibaut and Laurens 
Walker combined their research on psychology of justice and the study of 
process to look into what makes people trust a legal system enough to 
follow the laws voluntarily. They discovered that people care as much 
about the fairness of the process as the outcome the process generates. 
Simply put, people want to be treated like people and not numbers.

FairProcess, or procedural justice, universally requires adherance to 
three principles:

     * Engagement. Involve individuals in the decisions that involve 
them. Get their input, allow them to actively PeerReview the ideas on 
the table. Respect individuals for their ideas.

     * Explanation. Everyone involved and affected must understand the 
reason why the decisions were made. Demonstrating the rationale behind 
decisions shows people that you have considered their opinions 
thoughtfully and impartially. Not only will this make people trust the 
decision maker but it will help them learn.

     * Expectation clarity. Once a decision is made, clearly specify the 
expectations for the people involved, what responsibilities they have. 
Even if the expectations are demanding, people want to know by what 
standards they will be judged and what penalties there will be for 
failure. Understanding what to do reduces useless political manouevering 
and it allows people to focus on the task at hand.

By no means does fair process imply consensus. In fact, people are more 
than happy to let someone make the final decision provided they 
understand why that decision was made and that it was the best decision 
for the best reasons.

Because fair process builds trust and commitment, people will go above 
and beyond the call of duty, volunteering where before they would have 
to be coerced. Moreover, it is clearly more optimal to use both mind and 
body instead of just body.

On the other hand, once fair process has been violated, the victims 
often demand far more compensation than what they've been slighted. They 
tend towards retributive justice, trying to punish those that have 
harmed them and ensure it never happens again. The resulting red tape 
could cripple the organization.

FairProcess is a humanistic management style which goes far past 
Wiki:FredrickWinslowTaylor's ScientificTheoryOfManagement?. It is 
essential in all organizations, businesses or OnlineCommunity, to break 
past the power imbalance.

Source: W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Fair Process: Managing in the 
Knowledge Economy. Harvard Business Review January-February 1997 pp65-75.

Summary by SunirShah.