AP Photo/Evan Agostini
In “The Invention of Lying”—starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey—character Mark Bellison finds that lying has far more benefits than telling the truth. Some people may think that Bellison’s moral compass needs calibration for injecting a pathological liar into a world of complete truth telling, but I cannot tell a lie: In the workplace, there are many benefits to being dishonest.
Ricky Gervais may have been the first dishonest man in “The Invention of Lying,” but at the office, you don’t have to look too hard to find liars, damn liars, and coworkers. People in the workplace will lie about anything and everything—from why they were late for work, what they watched on television last night, and how their important projects are progressing. In some extreme cases, lying can lead to the downfall of a career, but in most cases, lies are just a good way to get through the workday without a lot of hassle.
To lie or not to lie in the workplace?
Telling the truth may help you sleep better at night, but a carefully crafted lie in the workplace has certain benefits.
The need for watercooler material. A lot of office networking and bonding is done in a company’s break room and at the watercooler. These light conversations can help get your mind off of work for a few minutes and they often involve pop culture. But what if you didn’t see last night’s episode of Jay Leno or you don’t know who Roman Polanski is, much less why he was arrested?
This is where the need to listen, and lie, comes in. If you get the gist of what people are talking about, even just enough to say “Yeah, I thought last night’s episode of ‘Law & Order’ was great,” you can connect with them. Although it doesn’t mean much when you’re scarfing down your lunch, people who have common interests with you will remember you and this can give you political clout later on.
The need to get along with colleagues. Although you may be itching to disagree with some of the things that your coworkers say, sometimes it’s best to lie in order to keep the peace.
“Lie when it promotes a better work environment, said Ward Anderson, author of The Ultimate Bachelor's Guide. “If the boss is a screaming conservative, it's probably best not to disagree with him when he shouts how global warming is a crock. You might not have to lie outright, but a simple nod of the head and a ‘I hear ya’ can save you a lot of hassle in the long run.”
Keeping your private life private. In order to pass the time during the workday, your colleagues may want to discuss what they do in their private lives—and they expect you to do the same. If you don’t give them at least a little bit of information, you run the risk of being seen as aloof and difficult, so if you really want to keep your business to yourself, make something up.
“It’s okay to lie about what you do outside of work because, quite frankly, it’s no one’s business but your own, so long as your extracurricular activities don’t interfere with your work performance,” said Niki Payne, certified True Colors facilitator and Project Manager at True Colors International. “There is no reason to risk your reputation at the expense of individual interests that may or may not be shared by others in the workplace.”
Cultivating business relationships. Sometimes in the workplace, matters of taste are worth lying over and those lies can advance your career. Ultimately, it’s the manager’s opinion that matters, so in some cases, just swallowing your pride and being agreeable can pay off.
“People told Walt Disney that ‘Bambi’ was a good name for a male deer that is seen as King of the Forest. Fifty years later, it's the name of every third stripper you meet in Vegas. But the boss wanted Bamb’ and so people went with Bambi,” said Anderson. “Somewhere out there, a starving animator is out of work because he argued to Disney that the deer should be called ‘Butch’. Everyone that lied got to work on ‘Cinderella’.”
Part Two: The consequences of lies in the workplace
More Workplace Communication:
The benefits of being a workplace a**hole
Employee retention: 5 reasons people quit their jobs
8 arresting workplace lessons from 'Law & Order'
10 kinds of bad bosses and how to survive them
E-mail etiquette do's and don'ts
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