Book Review - From Hire to Liar
Jun. 8th, 2009 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dickensSo this month's book report (that seems to be all the more often I do these) is for From Hire to Liar - The role of deception in the workplace by David Shulman
The author argues that while there have been studies of work-place deception before, they've focused on illegal acts by individuals. The author wants to examine a different kind of deception. For example, the way you're nice to a boss or co-worker you despise, or how you find answers to questions by talking to someone who isn't officially the person responsible for training you, or play solitaire if no one is watching. He suggests that in fact, most companies have a culture where some deception is necessary in order to do your job.
He starts out with a couple chapters about jobs where you must be deceptive (private investigators for example use deceptive tactics to get information for clients). Actually those chapters were less interesting than the ones about companies where it just happens.
Much of what he writes about sounds familiar: how there are co-workers who 'everyone knows' don't work as hard, or aren't very good, but no one ever mentions this to a manager. How word and tone can convey two different meanings, especially from a supervisor. (Like "Feel free to ask questions, my door is open." can mean, "Don't bother me.")
He tried very hard not to be judgemental about this stuff, but ended with a list of 'aphorisms' he wrote up after completing the study. Things like:
"Asking some managers to offer 'constructive criticism' about their co-workers and subordinates is like giving gasoline to an arsonist."
"Some people flee their responsibilities like vampires avoiding sunlight."
and my personal favorite:
"Bitter, seething resentment is the proverbial elephant in the room of professional relations."
The author argues that while there have been studies of work-place deception before, they've focused on illegal acts by individuals. The author wants to examine a different kind of deception. For example, the way you're nice to a boss or co-worker you despise, or how you find answers to questions by talking to someone who isn't officially the person responsible for training you, or play solitaire if no one is watching. He suggests that in fact, most companies have a culture where some deception is necessary in order to do your job.
He starts out with a couple chapters about jobs where you must be deceptive (private investigators for example use deceptive tactics to get information for clients). Actually those chapters were less interesting than the ones about companies where it just happens.
Much of what he writes about sounds familiar: how there are co-workers who 'everyone knows' don't work as hard, or aren't very good, but no one ever mentions this to a manager. How word and tone can convey two different meanings, especially from a supervisor. (Like "Feel free to ask questions, my door is open." can mean, "Don't bother me.")
He tried very hard not to be judgemental about this stuff, but ended with a list of 'aphorisms' he wrote up after completing the study. Things like:
"Asking some managers to offer 'constructive criticism' about their co-workers and subordinates is like giving gasoline to an arsonist."
"Some people flee their responsibilities like vampires avoiding sunlight."
and my personal favorite:
"Bitter, seething resentment is the proverbial elephant in the room of professional relations."
