When You're Scared to Tell the Truth

At work, especially in the project context, we rely on each other's Word. When someone tells you something, you need to know that you're hearing what the speaker believes to be true. We can each help to create a more Truth-Full working environment by telling the Truth ourselves, especially when the prospect of telling the whole truth seems scary.

If you tell the truth
it's harder to gossip.
(This is a good thing.)Mark Twain wrote, "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." This is one of many advantages of telling the truth. Here's a list of the advantages of telling the truth over spinning, shading, stretching, misleading, or even lying.

Telling the truth requires less creativity because you don't have to make anything up.

Telling the truth reduces medical expenses by keeping your blood pressure in the normal range.

If you tell the truth you don't have to worry whether what you're saying now is consistent enough — or too consistent — with what you've said in the past.

If you tell the truth it's less likely (though not impossible) that anyone will accuse you of not telling the truth.

If you tell the truth you have to do much less record-keeping — it's easier to remember what you told to whom and when.

You hardly ever feel guilty about telling the truth.

If you tell the truth you don't have to worry as much about whether what you're saying is working.

If you tell the truth you don't have to worry about what to say when you get caught.

If you tell the truth you don't have to learn any fancy ambiguous words to mislead people.

The plain truth is usually shorter than anything else.

If you tell the truth you get practice telling the truth, which can pay off when telling the truth is really hard.

If you tell the truth it's more likely (though not certain) that others will tell you the truth.

If you tell the truth your nose won't grow much beyond its current length.

If you tell the truth it's harder to gossip. (This is a good thing.)

If you tell the truth you don't have to worry about keeping a straight face.

If you tell the truth you have less need to explain to yourself — or your kids — why it's sometimes OK not to tell the truth.

If you tell the truth, people have a chance to find out about problems while there's still time to do something about them.

If you tell the truth it's easier to sleep at night.

If you're known as a straight shooter, fewer people will ask you to shoot crooked.

If you tell the truth often enough, when you say something, people are more likely to actually believe you.

I'm sure you can add a few more of your own. If you wonder what they are, you can find out.  Top    Next Issue

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Most of us have information that's "company confidential," or even more sensitive than that. Sometimes people who want to know what we know try to suspend our ability to think critically. Here are some of their techniques.

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Appearance Antipatterns: I

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See also Ethics at Work and Ethics at Work for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming May 21: Mismanaging Project Managers: Mechanics

Most organizations hold project managers accountable for project performance. But they don?t grant those project managers control of needed resources. Nor do they hold Project Sponsors or other Senior Managers accountable for the consequences of their actions when they interfere with project work. Here?s a catalog of behaviors worth looking at. Available here and by RSS on May 21.

And on May 28: Mismanaging Project Managers: Leadership

Most organizations hold project managers accountable for project performance. But they don't hold Project Sponsors or other Senior Managers accountable for the consequences of their actions when they interfere with the project manager's ability to lead the project team. Available here and by RSS on May 28.

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