I love my work. I love teaching others, watching as they connect the dots and surmize how smart they already are about the topic. So it was a revelation for me at a recent seminar when, while teaching how to tell the truth without fear, I learned that for some employees this is simply not possible.

Telling the truth without fear

I am always interested in the attendees response to the question "can you tell the truth without fear at work?" Sometimes the response is unanimous that 'of course' I can tell the truth. More often than not, I get no response but instead receive a look of incredulity, and a smirk of "you're kidding, right?" Some time ago an attendee said that their CIO always wants the truth and so provided the department with a catch phrase that allows them to do just that. It's "intellectual honesty" as in, "Bob, in all intellectual honesty..." This phrase, I was informed, prepared the CIO for bad news while providing employees with a means of presenting even the most unpleasant news.

I like it. Everyone's on the same page. it even provides employees with a way of disagreeing with each other. This is a crucial communication that Patrick Lencioni calls "engaging in good conflict" in his book "The Five Disfunctions of a Team." It is evident that being in a position where it is difficult to tell the truth without fear creates many problems. This leads me to the second question in today's blog post.

What are you communicating to your employees?

A second question that I pose to attendees is "you are a project manager and your boss adds a new project to your plate. You have neither the resources nor the time available to execute it successfully. Do you discuss the issues with your manager and explain your reasoning?"

Imagine my surprise when I was told: "We can't do that." We woud have to be quiet and take on the project. "Even if you knew it would fail?" As I asked, I feared the response. "Yes, even if we knew it would fail, we would have to take on the project anyway. In today's market, if we don't do it, it is easy for them to fire us, find someone who needs a job and is willing to take it on, despite the fact that it would fail. So, we would just do it, let it fail and continue from there."

WOW! Is it any wonder then, that the economy is in its current state. What this says is, given the worst circumstances, an employee will take a project they know will fail, their manager knows will fail, and the company knows will fail, because that's the company's culture. It makes me wonder how many of today's organizations have this culture of lies vs. truth, and communication that encourages failure then rewards it.

Do you work in a company that allows you to tell the truth without fear or do those who take on failed projects end up being promoted? Send me your comments via the comment page at www.yvonnefbrown.com/contact