The concept of a Professional Virtue Clock
In all professions, having a clock on our wrist or hanging on the walls of our offices, laboratories or homes is critical to keep track of times or measure the speed of events that make our life meaningful.
We use the clock to plan, execute and evaluate programmes; Sometimes, when we plan projects, we design a timeline and milestones. We also develop a Gantt chart to track the progress of series of events in this project against time. Every professional uses the mechanical clock; it is even part of our fashion. However, there is a use of the clock that is not common; as an Aide-memoir.
The Professional Virtues and the Virtue Clock as an Aide-Memoire
Professional virtues or simply virtues are unarguably important in the training and practice of employees to build good moral character of individuals in any given field and to promote the value of their professions, whether it is medical1, social works2, teaching3, psychology.4 Virtue ethics now transcends personal character building to overall organisational quality improvement.5 No matter the business one is involved or interested in, even the education in that business requires knowledge of and character building in virtue ethics.6 To position virtue ethics as a quality improvement approach, it may be justifiable, therefore, to use an aide-memoir such as the virtue clock to sustain the consciousness of employees and employers about the role of professionalism in quality improvement.
An Aide-memoire, according to the Cambridge online dictionary, is something, usually written, to help one remember something. So, how do we use the virtue clock to remember something and what do we want to remember? It should be something that agrees with the idea of time; something that changes with time or has to do with time. It could be as simple as chores or to do list or something as complex as morally acceptable or professional behaviour (when focusing on professions and their code of conduct). Why should a reminder about professional behaviour need an aid to remember?
Why an Aide-Memoire about Professional Behaviour?
In all professions, there are written codes of conduct or values to be upheld but from experience, these are hidden in code books, guidelines, and policy documents. Occasionally, they are ‘invincibly’ hung on the entrance to an organisation or company; it is invisible because once it is noticed once, less attention is paid to it; little wonder why employees can’t recall or memorise their work lists of values. As has been said and maybe it is true that “out of sight is out of mind.” We wonder why unprofessional behaviour plague different work environments; it may not be out of sight though, because the documents or the wall frame hangs there for everyone to see but the brain can no longer keep up with remembering the information amidst continued heaping of new information and tasks. With cognitive overload as tasks increase, such values, virtues or professional behaviour truly goes out of mind and so, maybe, out of the brain memory’s sight. So, to address the out of sight and mind phenomenon, which may be a factor in incessant unethical behaviors, there is a need to help memory.
So, why put a professional Aide-Memoire in a Clock?
Let’s experiment with the reader. Would you respond quietly while reading this brief article (brief because we think it should not take much of your time) if your time was not factored into your decision to stop by to read this? Most would answer in the affirmative; We do not naturally spend time on any information that is not worth the time. To humans from prehistoric through the current modern age, time is critical. It is money, and it is everything. The since a clock measures this all important part of our life-our time and it is naturally to wear it , look at it, plan and implement with it on daily basis and anywhere we go, to make the brain remember that we ought to be professional all the time, in all events, and anywhere we are, the professional behaviour finds a niche inside the clock. So, when you look at the clock next time, instead of seeing only the traditional seconds, minutes and hour, which are not discarded, one sees a virtue, value or professional attribute along the seconds, minutes and hour time.
The Virtue-Time Theorem
Statement: At any given situation (S), there is a corresponding virtue (V) along the time pathway (t).
Where S is a moral-laden situation with a-z situations. V is a required or appropriate virtue and a-z = different types of virtuous behaviours
Assumption: It is assumed, therefore, that, using the concept of a virtue clock, a vitreous behaviour, say, courage or honesty could be a response to a given situation at a particular time whereas at other times, another value is displayed. It is unlikely that two virtues will be displayed in response to a situation, so, around the clock, different professional behaviour is exhibitable given the circumstance.
The Professional Virtue Clock- The Application
So far, the clock has been used in training healthcare professionals, students, and researchers on scientific integrity, professionalism, and ethics. It currently hangs, as an aide-memoire, on the wall of some offices at the Irrua Specialist, Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. The tool could be used by different professions and professionals to train their employees on science or professional values or virtues. It could also be used in the classroom, laboratory, offices, workshops, and government buildings to remind all about professional values “all the time.” It is hoped that one day, it will not only be hung on the wall but worn on the wrist by those who value professionalism anyway they are and under any situation.
Request for feedback from users
The professional virtue clock is new and currently used to train and remind scientists about moral values. As have been highlighted above, it can be used to train any group on professionalism ‘round the clock.’ However, it is not evident yet if this serves a good purpose than the traditional clock hanging on the walls of our environment. It is not apparent yet if the tool helps in training as it is also designed to do. So, wherever, this tool is used, the author requests for feedback. The author accepts feedback from theorists on the virtue-time theory stated in this article.
Acknowledgements
- Doctor Neelam Wright | University of Southampton, a senior teaching fellow at the University of Southampton, and author of the original virtue wheel.
- The Embassy of Good Science, File:Virtue wheel2 NW.png – The Embassy of Good Science
- The PANDORA-ISTH Virtual Research Clinic, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria. Home – PANDORA-ID-NET-ISTH Virtual Research Clinic
- Prof AD Asogun, Dr. A. Aigbiremolen, and Dr. O. Otaigbe, for the review of this article.
References:
1. Kotzee, B., Ignatowicz, A. & Thomas, H. Virtue in Medical Practice: An Exploratory
Study. HEC Forum 29, 1–19 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-016-9308-x
2. Bibus, A. A. (2016). Virtue Ethics. Social Work, 62(1), 95.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/sww079
3. Kristjánsson, K. Aristotelian Practical Wisdom (Phronesis) as the Key to
Professional Ethics in Teaching. Topoi 43, 1031–1042 (2024).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-023-09974-7
4. Jordan AE, Meara NM. Ethics and the professional practice of psychologists: the
role of virtues and principles. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 1990 Apr;21(2):107-14. doi:
10.1037/0735-7028.21.2.107. PMID: 16047427.
5. Verstegen, Pleuntje M., J J. Kole, and A. S. Groenewoud. “Virtue Ethics, the Next
Step in Quality Improvement?” International Journal for Quality in Health Care
36, no. 3 (2024). Accessed May 12, 2026.
https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzae072.
6. Moosmayer, Dirk C., Marta Rocchi and Ignacio Ferrero. “Virtue as Competence:
A Conceptual Integration of Competence Thinking with MacIntyrean Virtue
Ethics.” British Journal of Management (2025): n. pag.
Source
Originally published by Dr. Chiedozie Godian Ike on Zenodo.
The Professional Virtue Clock: An Aide-Memoire of Acceptable Behaviours and Values for All Professions
https://zenodo.org/records/20301443
