On a Dutch blog for managers they had two items. One item was about lying, the other was about telling the truth. The conclusion you would get from it was that lying is a legitimate action and truth is an expensive commodity, best kept hidden.
Unfortunately the right to speak the truth is countered with arguments that make it clear that the truth is expensive when you hide behind lies. And although the Dutch management blog, gives many reasons to lie, and why it is justified, there is of course only one real reason to lie. And that reason is to protect others from your own incompetence to give them the truth in the form of a gift.
Because what is the truth really? It is no more then your observation of reality, given in your own words. So the truth as such does not exist in most cases. The truth often is depend on the focus of the observer. So a teenager will find the rules of his parents stifling. Where the parents will see the rules as protection for the teenager. A CEO will see his rules as a means to protect the profitability of the company. Where the account manager will see the rules as an obstacle for client satisfaction.
So the truth often is no more then a point of view, that even more often than not will be defended every inch of the way.
