What Would You Rather Be Told?

I was pretty wound up this morning by the unfounded e-mail I received. I decided against being nasty back because two wrongs don't make a right. Since I was going to be near the courthouse anyhow, I stopped in and got a replacement certificate without any problems. It took me longer to find a parking space than to accomplish the transaction.

It got me to thinking about how business is conducted these days. My previous SO worked for a publishing company that specialized in publishing academic journals. (BTW, did you know that there is an academic journal called Turf & Lawn Management? It contains "scientific" articles on how to keep golf courses green and managed.) It was standard policy within that company to lie to anyone calling in to ask how long something was going to take. The answer to always be given was: two weeks.

Now, more often than not, two weeks wasn't anywhere near the time frame that was the truth. The truth was more like two months, sometimes six months, but in order to keep the customer happy, they were always informed it would just be two weeks. My SO hated to lie like this, but since he was a nobody within the ranks, just a rank and file proofreader, he had to follow company policy.

It was felt by management that people would forget their initial inquiry about the time frame and move on and somehow be placated with this response. However, when dealing with PhD's they tend to be wiser than the average bear and realized they were being deceived. On more than one occasion excuses and reasons would have to be supplied when the deception was discovered.

While I think people do want to be told the truth in the business world, at the same time they don't want to hear it. Therefore companies have set policies of "fudging the truth" so that the customer will like what they hear. Are we such delicate creatures that hearing the truth pushes our buttons and pulls our triggers?

When I got home this evening this is what I wrote to the upset bride:

The reason I informed you yesterday about my lack of success with getting an answer from the county auditor is I said I would keep you informed about what was going on. I have always been honest with you, and by doing so I'm judged unprofessional and unorganized. As a person studying business relations, one of the biggest complaints in the business world is the lack of honesty, integrity, and accountability. I was fully aware that if I was honest with you that I could be deemed as unprofessional and unorganized, but it was a risk I was willing to take because I feel being honest with a person is better than being caught in a lie.

Remember how when we were young we were taught not to lie and fib because it was wrong? Why do adults tend to scrap that when doing business? Is profit the motivating factor in all business transactions?

I could have easily compromised my integrity, denied there was any mistake on my part, and pulled the wool over her eyes just to make her happy, to give her that "blissful ignorance" that people want to be coddled with, but I'm the one who has to face myself in the mirror and look into the eyes of a person who could tell fibs and lies to another just because they wanted to be soothed.

In good conscience, I can't do it. It's not that I fear I'll burn in hell, but I do have this scenario in my mind that goes like this: Upon the day of crossing over into the white light, spirits come around me and I have to begin on that process of accounting for my life, to determine what karma still remains for me to balance. In the beginning of my days, before I knew better, I didn't care that much about such philosophical matters, but as I learned, I changed my behavior to reflect what I feel is true.

I want to be able to look those spirits straight in their third eye and say: I stopped lying to people because I felt that being honest was tied to my integrity as a growing soul and human being. I did my best to own up to my mistake and shortcomings and not deny them or lie about them just to make someone feel good. It did make me sad that I upset them, but I felt that in the end being honest in a polite way was the best policy I could ever adopt. I told the truth without being vicious, thoughtless, rude, or uncaring. I told the truth as I saw it as it felt wrong to do otherwise, and I didn't like feeling wrong inside because I had to live with that feeling and above all be true to myself so that I could be true to others.

When you do business, what would you rather be told: the truth or what you like to hear? How do you feel about an employee or company that you catch in a lie?