Towards fairness

The world is not fair. It never has been. History is a ledger of uneven weights: some carry more, some take more, some are lifted for reasons that look suspiciously like luck dressed as merit. If widescale fairness is out of reach today then we start with ourselves, advocating local fairness. The steady application of our moral compass guiding the fair treatment to the people and places within arm’s length is entirely possible.

Luminism, my philosophy at its heart, says: give back more than you take and leave people and places better than you found them. Picking rubbish off the beach on a walk, smiling at a stranger, holding the door of the lift open patiently. Far more examples to mention now. This way of being is not optimism, it’s a discipline. It asks us to work on the scale we can actually influence: our classrooms, studios, meetings, inboxes, project teams, kitchen tables. We can’t fix the whole storm, but we can build shelters that keep others dry or at least share our umbrella.

What Unfairness Looks Like (When No One Says Its Name)

Unfairness rarely announces itself with a fan fare. It sidles in as the offhand comment that shrinks someone’s confidence, or a back handed compliment, perhaps excluding or wasting people’s time purposely, sidelining, dismissing, overlooking, giving the manufactured deadline that denies rest, the ‘joke’ that makes the room cave in, the credit that wanders from the maker to the loudest voice. Most corrosive is the power-play and gossiping: one person using status to make another person’s day, work, or life harder, because they can. Creating false scenarios and scenes of bad blood and scheming out of spite, muddying the waters and causing confusion; favouritism is another high playing card in the deck of unfairness. Pure callousness. It’s not leadership. It’s far from excellence. It is failure.

A Luminist Guide to Handling Unfairness

1) Hold the mirror up: Describe, “Here is what happened, here is how it affected the work and the person, here is what would be fair.”

2) If harm is recurring, record it. Dates, contexts, outcomes. Patterns speak volumes where small incidents can seem irrelevant or be silenced.

3) Insist on written instructions and transparent timelines.

4) If certain voices fill every meeting. Invite contributions in writing for those who think best on paper. Fairness is a practical choreography of voices.

5) Practice radical candor without humiliation. Say the difficult thing kindly and clearly, in private when possible, in public when necessary to prevent harm. Truth plus dignity is the Luminist standard.

6) Credit is fair and necessary. Name makers, cite sources, share wins. Fairness flourishes where acknowledgement is habitual.

8) And finally: Document your efforts and their impacts. Keep receipts, keep going.

For Those With Power

If you sign the forms or set the agenda, fairness is your first deliverable. Ask: Who benefits? Who pays? Who is missing? Rotate opportunities, publish decisions, invite critique without consequence. Authority is not a license to be casual with other people’s lives; it is an obligation to be precise with your own power.

“The test of a leader is not how many followers, but how many leaders they create.”

From Dynamic Administration by Mary Parker Follett

For Those Without Power (Yet)

You still own your stance. Name values out loud. Learn the policies that protect you and others. The fairest teams to join are often the ones you help build.

"What injures the hive, injures the bee" by Marcus Aurelius

So, in short, fairness is not an abstract virtue. As Marcus Aurelius stated many moons ago, (between 161 and 180 AD in his personal journal, Meditations. Book 6, Chapter 54 of the work) ‘what injures the hive, injures the bee’, urging individuals to consider the needs of the community when making decisions and understanding that individual success echoes to the success of the whole. Fairness shows up in how someone sleeps after working with you, in whether a junior feels taller leaving a meeting, in whether a disagreement improves the work. When in doubt, run the Luminist test: Did I add light? Did I reduce harm? Did I leave more than I took? Small, local fairness accumulates. It changes reputations, then cultures, then outcomes. If the world remains uneven, we can still make our own square metre a level place to stand.

Fairness is a daily craft, and its first tool is self-reliance. Emerson reminds us, we carry within us the quiet authority to act rather than await permission. In practice this means: do the just thing without fanfare, keep your promises when no one is watching, and refuse to outsource your conscience. Stoicism sharpens that edge. Marcus Aurelius writes, “Waste no more time arguing what a good person should be; be one.” He also warns that the best reply to harm is not retaliation but non-imitation. “The best revenge is to be unlike your enemy.” Epictetus is equally plain: we do not control the behaviour of others, only our response; dignity begins there.

Name the opposite: unfairness from those in charge is poison. It corrodes trust, wastes human potential, and taxes the whole hive. Why do some abuse power? Often it is insecurity in search of status, addictive personalities tend to enjoy the short dopamine hit of control, the ease of externalising blame and the selective moral disengagement dressed up as “tough calls”. It can be a reflection of upbringing, personality or even mental illness, There is no real gain in it, only the counterfeit pleasure of using people as punching bags. That is not merely unkind; it is strategically foolish. Teams suffer, ideas dry up, errors hide, and both the hive and bee pay. The antidotes are simple, repeatable, and visible: rotate opportunity; publish decisions with reasons; separate evaluation from experimentation so people can test new ideas; install anonymous channels that allow real review; document credit; and tie authority to measurable stewardship, who learned, who rested, who advanced, who was heard. And note who wasn’t.

So end here, and begin again tomorrow: rely on yourself to act justly.

FAQ

Q: How do I challenge unfairness without creating conflict? Use radical candor: be clear and kind, describe impact on people and work, propose a fair alternative, and document patterns privately.

Q: What does fairness look like in meetings? Rotate facilitation, invite written input, set visible timelines, credit contributors by name, and publish decisions.

Q: I have little formal power. What can I do? Name values aloud, keep records, learn policies, request written instructions, and model fairness in small, repeatable actions.

Sources and References:

• ·       Scott, Kim. Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. St. Martin’s Press, 2017 (updated ed. 2019).Author site & resources: https://www.radicalcandor.com

• ·       Follett, Mary Parker. “Power-With vs. Power-Over.” In Dynamic Administration, Harper, 1941 (foundational management ethics).

• Marcus Aurelius. Meditations. Trans. Gregory Hays, 2002.Book 6.54: “What injures the hive injures the bee.”Public-domain Greek/English

• ·       ACAS (UK). “Bullying and Harassment at Work.” Policy & process templates: https://www.acas.org.uk

• ·       Australian Human Rights Commission. “Respect@Work” and workplace fairness resources. https://humanrights.gov.au

• ·       Ambiguous Architect. “Luminism: Give Back More Than You Take.” 

• ·       Public Service Commission. “APS Values and Code of Conduct.” https://www.apsc.gov.au

• ·       UK Civil Service. “Code: Integrity, Honesty, Objectivity, Impartiality.” https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil-service-code