NASBA Center For Public Trust 
So far, in this series we’ve covered the importance of character and the importance of duty in acting morally. This ethics 101 entry will focus on John Stuart Mill and utilitarianism.
The Theory
As one might guess, utilitarianism is a theory based on utility and is often colloquially referred to as the complicated calculus of human happiness. What is good, to Mill, are actions that bring about the most happiness. To use his own words, “actions are right in the proportion that they tend to promote happiness” (Mill, 7).
What, then, is happiness and how is it brought about? In direct opposition to Kant, Mill believed that happiness (and therefore goodness) can only be known through experience and is not innately within the universe waiting for discovery. Happiness is mostly a results-based calculation. In the same way that we only know what is visible through seeing it and what is desirable through desiring it, the goodness of an act can only be determined by the sum of happiness it brings about.
Mill does acknowledge that not all types of happiness are created equal. The happiness of a bar crawl with friends is not nearly as happy as the feeling of graduating from college or giving birth to a child. But why? Endurance. Remember that actions are good in proportion to the happiness they create. – Graduating from college has higher happiness potential in that it brings about more good for the long term. The bar crawl with friends, however, is only likely to bring about a hangover (decidedly not good).
The ability to know what veins of happiness are lesser or greater comes through what Mill refers to constantly as the “well cultivated” person. Those who are brought up well in a moral society will be more easily able to determine which acts of happiness will have a lasting effect on total happiness. Society is involved and very important in laying out rules of behavior. Society and communal good is important to Mill. It is not the happiness of the individual that matters, but the sum of happiness for a whole. What makes the individual singularly happy is not as important as elevating the total sum of happiness amongst a group.
Within society, Mill stresses that everyone’s happiness is of equal value and importance. To achieve the goal of the highest sum of happiness possible, it is important to cultivate sympathy and understanding for the happiness of others.
In summary, acts that are good bring about the highest amount possible of human happiness. It is not individual happiness that is the goal, but rather communal happiness. Everyone’s happiness is of equal importance and holds equal value. Happiness, and therefore goodness, both have to be determined through experience, not by reason alone. Societal and cultural norms shape the experience for each community. It is because of this that it is important to have a well-cultivated society of well-brought up citizens.
Leadership Lessons
Utilitarianism might be the theory of ethics that has the most practical applications to organizational leadership and ethics. Mill’s focus on the communal and its rules and values can be easily applied to any organization, office or business.
It is important for a business culture to promote ethical behavior and have a set of guidelines for what is considered good behavior. Without this, employees will have a hard time doing the math of determining what acts are good and conducive to happiness.
Additionally, it is important to remember that it is the total sum of happiness for everyone that is counted, not the individual. If an act were to bring about a supreme amount of happiness for one person, but that happiness came at the expense of another, the act cannot be good. Happiness, be it earnings, signing a new deal or winning a hot new contract cannot be counted as a moral thing if it came at the expense of someone else – even if the someone ranks lower.
– Alyssa Gallas, Operations Manager