I think Keith makes a powerful and useful point about how values actually
work.
"All this discussion highlights the dilemma with honesty and values.
Often, we are chastised for being honest, if not punished....we have a
constant balancing act between what we really believe and what the people
around us want to hear, or are prepared to hear. Life presents
opportunites and our actions need to be tailored to the situation, the
readiness of the people to accept our actions or even our role in the
actions.
"There are few absolute truths, yet honesty implies adhering to some
notion of universally-accepted truth. In dealing with the multitudes of
decision-makers, we are constantly forced into a balancing act.
"If we behave the same way regardless of the audience, we will be thought
of as inflexible, if not arrogant, or perhaps not a team player. As we
deal with different societies, we discover the shades of what truth might
mean in Japan versus the United States versus Mexico. When someone says
they will do something that we have just requested, we need to adjust our
expectations to the society or venue of the request. Otherwise, we will be
constantly disappointed.
"I encountered a salesman who had just lost an order for a new system
because he told the prospect EXACTLY what was involved in the
implementation, and the prospect was scared into the hands of a more
understanding competitor. The salesman was not only absolutely right but
the competitor had much more trouble implementing than the salesman would
have. Sometimes it is necessary to tell the truth but not the whole truth,
at least not until the audience is ready for it!"
=== End quote =====
His fundamental point is that honesty -- or any value -- has a situational
component to it. This should not be too surprising. We understand that
leadership is situational, management is situational, empowerment is
situational. We should understand that values are situational. Being
honest to the point of saying hurtful -- even if true -- things to someone
may not be a justifiable kind of honesty. On the other hand, being
dishonest in order to self-aggrandize at someone else's expense is pretty
problematic behavior. The situations are different, and honesty needs to
be understood in context.
In most situations there are many ways to be honest while being ethical,
moral, and legal. All are legitimate. Some are going to cause fewer
problems to me. Those may be more preferable to me. Some may be more
problematic to me, but they may have value to my organization. I need to
think about those. However, they need to be understood as alternatives
which do not require my allegiance unless there is some other value that
is driving me to select that choice.
All of this is applicable to other values, not just honesty.
Understanding the situation, and understanding the options are all part of
having values.
--Rol Fessenden LL Bean, Inc. 76234.3636@compuserve.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>