The comments posted in response to my recent Advice Line postings about the legitimacy of lying, deception, withholding information and so on cause me some concern - not because many are critical, but because of the nature of some of the criticism.So here are my concerns:Concern #1: Overstating my position. What I've said is that there are circumstances in business that call for something other than full disclos The comments posted in response to my recent Advice Line postings about the legitimacy of lying, deception, withholding information and so on cause me some concern – not because many are critical, but because of the nature of some of the criticism.So here are my concerns:Concern #1: Overstating my position. What I’ve said is that there are circumstances in business that call for something other than full disclosure of the unvarnished honest opinion of the speaker. What I haven’t said is that making casual lying a personal habit whenever it’s convenient is a good idea. It isn’t, for matters of character, personal effectiveness, and reputation, to name just three. Concern #2: Strawmen. Really – when I say there are times when failing to tell a falsehood does clear harm and telling one leads to a better outcome, it really isn’t legitimate to translate it to, “Bob said lying is a better outcome.” Likewise, I made a point about how to answer a nine-year-old who asks how her first violin performance sounds. One response countered with a conversation with a fifteen-year-old who has been performing (vocals) for awhile. If the violinist example isn’t sufficiently clear, let me ask a question about the hundreds of millions of parents who have, over the years, told their young children about Santa Claus. Were they good parents, or vile liars? Concern #3: Cruelty. Sometimes you have to terminate an employee for non-performance. That doesn’t make the employee a bad person. Beyond that, publicly humiliating someone as part of a termination is more than unethical (according to my system of ethics) – it can land a company in court for defamation of character. Allowing the employee to resign, and to decide how to explain his/her departure to colleagues, is an act of kindness and professionalism. If every other employee easily sees through the cover story they won’t consider it a failure of integrity on the part of the manager. They’ll interpret it as an act of compassion. I don’t much care personally about the criticism. Generating discussion is what Advice Line is all about. My concern is this: Managers and professionals who make use of these polemical techniques on their staff or co-workers will find they damage their credibility and ability to collaborate at least as much as telling them Fred left under his own steam so as to concentrate on pursuing a new career direction. – Bob Powered by ScribeFire. Technology Industry