SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/cadet-milgram-authority-warning

What warning should leaders take from the Milgram experiment?

Authority can produce powerful, unthinking obedience.

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  1. People may obey authority against their judgment ✔
  2. Uniforms prevent poor choices
  3. Every order is automatically ethical

Why: Many volunteers kept following a researcher's orders even when they believed they were hurting someone. Ethical leadership requires responsibility, not blind obedience.

Huh, didn't know that: The shock machine was fake and the learner was an actor, but the volunteers did not know that.

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Why did the thoughtful cadet question the sign? It wanted good direction, not just any direction.
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References

Answer: People may obey authority against their judgment. Many volunteers kept following a researcher's orders even when they believed they were hurting someone. Ethical leadership requires responsibility, not blind obedience.

  1. Learn to Lead Volume 2, Chapter 6 www.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/L2L_Mod2_Ch6_The_Human_Element_107BC137426D2.pdf
    Milgram discovered that obedience to authority is a powerful motivator.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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