C'mon, tell the truth...
Last week, I had a conversation with Jon Warshawsky, one of the authors of Why Business People Speak Like Idiots, as prelude to an article on fighting bullshit that will appear on MarketingProfs.com.
In the book, Warshawsky and his colleagues Brian Fugere and Chelsea Hardaway describe the major causes of corporate bullshit -- obscurity, anonymity, hard-sell tactics, and downright tedium -- and offer practical alternatives for more effective communicating.
Idiots argues that plain-talk can help lift you from the morass of cubicle-culture and improve your career. I couldn't help but wonder if, instead, honest straight-talk will have you put out on your ear.
If you told the truth at work, would you be appreciated or fired?
Just a week ago, a good friend of mine was fired largely because he is the kind of no-bullshit truth-teller Idiots applauds. I know him well enough to know that he's not a crusader nor an arrogant know-it-all; in fact, he takes great pains to be sensitive to other people's concerns. But he does have a passion for his work and he will speak his mind. Unfortunately, he found himself in a very conservative work environment (at a liberal university, no less!) that didn't appreciate his "crossing the lines": My friend had the nerve to say "hello" to sachems two levels over his head!
In our conversation, Warshawsky did concede that there are toxic work environments where bullshit is the required language of all who wish to survive -- in those environments. I conceded that it may be best to leave -- if you can.
We both agreed that truth-tellers often extract the most lucrative revenge. How many corporations stifle honest expression, and eliminate truth-tellers (the euphemistic rationalization: "She's just not a 'team-player'") only to spend ten-times what they would have spent on salary to pay for the services of consultants? Consultants who then tell the corporation what it has avoided hearing from its employees?
Tell the truth: How are things around your cubicle?
In the book, Warshawsky and his colleagues Brian Fugere and Chelsea Hardaway describe the major causes of corporate bullshit -- obscurity, anonymity, hard-sell tactics, and downright tedium -- and offer practical alternatives for more effective communicating.
Idiots argues that plain-talk can help lift you from the morass of cubicle-culture and improve your career. I couldn't help but wonder if, instead, honest straight-talk will have you put out on your ear.
If you told the truth at work, would you be appreciated or fired?
Just a week ago, a good friend of mine was fired largely because he is the kind of no-bullshit truth-teller Idiots applauds. I know him well enough to know that he's not a crusader nor an arrogant know-it-all; in fact, he takes great pains to be sensitive to other people's concerns. But he does have a passion for his work and he will speak his mind. Unfortunately, he found himself in a very conservative work environment (at a liberal university, no less!) that didn't appreciate his "crossing the lines": My friend had the nerve to say "hello" to sachems two levels over his head!
In our conversation, Warshawsky did concede that there are toxic work environments where bullshit is the required language of all who wish to survive -- in those environments. I conceded that it may be best to leave -- if you can.
We both agreed that truth-tellers often extract the most lucrative revenge. How many corporations stifle honest expression, and eliminate truth-tellers (the euphemistic rationalization: "She's just not a 'team-player'") only to spend ten-times what they would have spent on salary to pay for the services of consultants? Consultants who then tell the corporation what it has avoided hearing from its employees?
Tell the truth: How are things around your cubicle?
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