Marginal Thinking & Our Personal Boundaries

Clayton Christensen eloquently takes the conventional business idea of marginal thinking and applies it to personal decision-making, in this Harvard Business School piece. We may think that making a decision to cross our personal boundaries “just this once” might have a low/marginal cost, but when we begin to weigh the actual costs, we could end up bankrupt or down the rabbit hole of lies and deception. Christensen asks us to question our personal values and morals. That’s what the devil and angel on our shoulders are for, right?

How do you confront this idea of marginal thinking when decisions of this kind are placed in front of you? Tell us about a time when your personal morals and values were questioned and the “just this once” mentality kicked in.