Decision Making Without Concrete Evidence Can Lead to Faulty Actions

Decision making without concrete evidence can lead to faulty actions

Leaders need to make decisions on the basis of substantiated evidence. Decisions made under other circumstances can cause the observer to doubt the legitimacy of the leader's decision. In the play Doubt: A Parable, by John Patrick Shanley, Sister Aloysius' mischievous mind is always looking for ways to over analyse the actions of Father Flynn. She is almost diabolical in her actions to have him removed from the school. Father Flynn, on the other hand, appears only interested in doing what is best for Donald Muller. Unfortunately, his well-intentioned actions make him vulnerable to the suspicious Sister Aloysius. Sister Aloysius' certainty that innocent actions are harmful causes her to unfairly judge Father Flynn.

Sister Aloysius unfairly judges Father Flynn's sermons and suspects his motives. At this point Sister Aloysius has only suspicions that Father Flynn could be in Doubt or knows someone that is. While speaking to Sister James, Sister Aloysius indicates her concerns about Father Flynn's and indicates that by saying "Well, sermons come from somewhere, don't they? Is Father Flynn in Doubt, is he concerned that someone else is in Doubt?" (Shanley 14). Sister Aloysius does not have any substantiated evidence of Father Flynn, as she only has her suspicions. One of her major character flaw is that she harbors a deep mistrust in her students, fellow sergman and society itself. So far, all she knew at that point was that Father Flynn grabbed a boy's wrists, and that he was talking about Doubt in one of his sermons. Father Flynn said later on in the book that his sermons are not true stories because lies make for a better sermon. "I'm sorry, I'm not forthright, but I must be careful not to create something. I can only say I am confused, perhaps needless, about matters in St. Nicolas School," Sister Aloysius remarks. (15) You can tell by this quote that she has some negative thoughts about the incident with Donald Muller, as she assumes that Father Flynn is having inappropriate behaviour toward Donald Muller. She is trying rephrasing it so it is less obvious of her concerns and assumptions.

Sister Aloysius negatively judges Father Flynn's interest in promoting a closer relationship between the Church and the community because she feels it is an inappropriate way to interact with the students and community. "But we're not members of their family. We're different.....And they think were different. The working class people of this parish trust us to be different" (30) Sister Aloysius remarks. Sister Aloysius believes that because they are a Catholic school, they must stay true to their vows that the school believes in. She believes that the rules are in place for a reason, and to be true to God, she must obey the oath that she took to become a Sister. Anything that challenges the operation of the school, and is out of line, she would not stand for. Therefore, she did not believe in the recommendation of changing the way things were already being run. The traditions of the Roman Catholic Church form the back bone of the rules