As a culture we used to evaluate a product based largely on the brand. We would overlook functionality and satisfaction. What could fill that huge gap in logic?

Emotion.

Our affluent culture offered us, as consumers, far too many decisions to make in a typical day. We were grateful for anything that could speed up any of those decisions, especially one that is emotionally changed.

It’s impossible to know all the reasons why our culture, at least for a time, fell prey to the egotistical message of the Brand. But I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that we evolved to a place where we had the affluence and leisure time to move higher up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, without the discipline to do so.

Here’s what I mean by that statement: We, as a culture, had been working really hard—toiled through the infancy of the industrial revolution and a couple of world wars—and then the fabulous time-saving, pre-packaged goods rolled into our homes and made our lives a breeze.

That’s the point at which we became lost in the pleasure of our reprieve and quickly forgot why we had worked so hard. We wanted a well-deserved break, a little time to bathe in our newly won luxury. We lost touch with the bigger goals and meaning of life. Without a more noble pursuit that humans naturally long for, we were left with stuff, experiences, and purchases that we then used to make us feel alive and important. In that context, an exciting brand illusion appeared to be just the thing we needed. Good branding could offer us the timesaving, pre-packaged replacement to a meaningful life. Thankfully, this shallow solution was not going to last forever.

Just be honest?  It’s not that easy.

The last entry addressed a study that shows people lie often and the most popular people lie the most often. Since every business wants to become more popular, how will this effect your business negatively?

Next it makes sense to address how can you minimize any negative impact. How do you become honest in a culture that tends to lie? First it makes sense to start with facing the reality that lies are a possible lubricant for the culture inside your business—they can advance or destroy it. You cannot irradiate all lies nor do you need to. Does your associate really need to know their hair didn’t turn out well today?

Investigate your own motives. Access how much you value the health of your company. If this requires uncovering the truth about the entrenched beliefs about your company, your market, your current and potential buyers and your own ideas as compared to feeding your self-perception as a smart person with the best ideas.

Demand the truth. Ask directly for it. Keep asking for more. Establish at the beginning of the conversation that the rules are changing and when you ask what they think you really don’t mean ” agree with me so I feel good about a decision I’ve already made.” Be clear that you are seeking insight based on the reality of the situation. Be persistent. Repeat this every time you request an opinion. It will take perseverance to break the established culture of lying. Teach your executive staff to demonstrate this behavior.

It has been said that we live in a culture of lies—white lies, exaggerations, misrepresentations and outright deceptions. In fact, Robert Fieldman has recently published a book that demonstrates that the most popular people are the ones who lie most often. Plus before people know each other they will tend to lie once every ten minutes. My question is: how will lying effect business success or failure?

I believe lying is one of the most destructive forces in business. One of the leading offenders is the way an organization engages in self-deception. As an organization we often collectively kid ourselves in the interest of moving forward. But what is the true cost?

Consider this senario: You are running a company. You are likely a strong personality or you wouldn’t have had a good deal of success already. You have a new idea, and because you are a good boss with a great staff, you ask for your employees input. They support the major thrust of whatever you describe, raising minor objections. You head back to your office to begin an implementation plan.

Now imagine the potential reality: Your employees have high mortgage payments, a kid or two and increasing credit card debt. They also have a belief that their next raise will be tied to being a popular “team player”; so, they withhold awkward but insightful criticism. Your business slowly fails because the truth will put your employees immediate future at risk.

Everyone in this story is trying to be the good guy. But in reality the good guy employee would risk their raise. The owner who’s a really good guy would demand truth and create a culture of honest—rewarding smart, respectful and comprehensive thinking.

On the other extreme, I’ve seen the opposite problem in a company who’s motto was “challenge the process”. It’s not bad as an idea, but in practice it created a culture of nay-sayers. If you were brave enough to agree with anything you risked not living up to the motto. It paralyzed the organization. Large projects could not get off the ground because company-wide support was impossible to achieve. They made a collective pact to sustain a different sort of self-deception.

Clearly, it takes humility, courage and, of course, honesty to find out how lying might be damaging your business.

See Robert’s Book