“If it works, do it.” This seems to be the mantra of most organizations. Arguably, this pedestrian philosophy is the major metric commonly employed in making decisions. In part, this methodology reflects human limitations in understanding the complexities of the world and therefore our limited ability to forecast the future. For example, assume one develops a plan to achieve some objective, such as making money by offering a certain product or service. One might conduct extensive market research and develop a high sense of probability that one’s plan will work, but the ultimate test is reality. Did the plan achieve the desired objective?

Organizations routinely make decisions based on this pragmatic methodology. Though pragmatism has some value, is it really the ultimate standard by which decisions should be made? What about the issue of right and wrong?

When we employ the idea of right as a metric, we assume a standard of rightness and conversely what isn’t right is deemed to be wrong.

In today’s culture, particularly in organizations, it is common to have a written document, such as a code of conduct or ethics or a statement of core values, to define acceptable traits that guide right actions. An organization’s code or statement provides a metric for making decisions based on what is deemed to be right.

For organizations that subscribe to a Christian worldview, their guide for defining right should be Scripture. For example, biblical rightness would include virtues such as love, faith, truth, growth, excellence, patience, joy, peace, progress, gentleness, self-control, human dignity, hard work, commitment, perseverance, sacrifice, service, integrity, and hope. Properly applied, these virtues will guide an organization into making the right decisions from a Christian worldview.

When an organization embraces biblical virtues, the primary metric for discerning the right decisions is alignment with these virtues. Furthermore, if an organization embraces integrity (internal consistence), then alignment with all adopted virtues should be required of all stakeholders and should be the primary metric to guide decisions. Pragmatism, as a decision-making methodology, is subordinated to these biblical virtues. Consequently, for each decision, success is first defined by alignment with the organization’s code of conduct or core values and then secondarily by the pragmatic consideration, "Does it work?"

For Christians the best source of organizational virtues is special revelation, that is, Scripture. Both the Old and New Testaments reveal God’s virtues. In the above text, the phrase the “law of liberty” is a reference to the Old Testament. The writer used this phrase as the standard to direct New Testament believers into making right decisions. Christians are called to speak and act as those who are accountable to Scripture as the primary metric for all decisions.

Here is your business tip. Organizational leaders who are committed to a Christian worldview must develop a well-defined scripturally based code of conduct and/or statement of core values to guide the expected deportment of stakeholders and provide the primary metric for all organizational decisions. Pragmatism should never be the primary metric, but it can be a secondary metric. The primary metric must always be alignment with virtues that emanate from a Christian worldview. To deliver excellent products and services, organizational leaders must model and require a high level of compliance to the code of conduct or statement of core values by all stakeholders.