Software Professional Code Of Ethics

In 2016, a bunch of Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainers met at a Scrum.org Face to Face gathering in Columbus, Ohio and discussed the topic of ethics in our industry.

During a period of 2 days, we co-created the Software Code Of Ethics. It represent our views on how we would like ourselves and fellow professionals in our software engineering industry to conduct ourselves, especially when pressurized to be unethical by by powerful stakeholders who can fire us.

Here is the result of our discussions...

Software Professional Code Of Ethics

As a software professional, I will conduct myself honestly and ethically wherever I operate in the world. I will adhere to the code of ethics herein and uphold the values of Openness, Courage, Respect, Focus, and Commitment.

I will not waver from any of the following professional standards under any pressure or incentive and:

• I will understand and communicate the value of the work we delivered.
• I will define and uphold a clear and transparent standard of quality and I will not compromise on that standard.
• I will not withhold any information that might harm my team, our stakeholders, our users or the public community.
• I will not imply certainty where it does not exist.
• I will selflessly share my knowledge with others.
• I will continuously improve myself.
• I will do the best I can.
• I will challenge anyone that does not demonstrate the professional standards herein.
• I will uphold this code of ethics for myself and others so we collectively improve the software profession.

By this code, I will abide and subscribe.

A few months after creating this code of ethics, a bunch of Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainers participated in a panel discussion exploring it. The recording of this discussion is available on Scrum.org at this page - Software Code Of Ethics: Navigating Ethical Challenges in Software Delivery

You can also watch my views on this topic in this video...