A while back, I was reading an article about the Radical Honesty movement, something that has a lot of potential to be a constructive development in the workplace. Unfortunately, its potential is equally destructive.
Radical Honesty, as the article puts it, is the complete abdication of lying and secrets:
Everybody would be happier if we just stopped lying. Tell the truth, all the time. This would be radical enough — a world without fibs — but…we should toss out the filters between our brains and our mouths. If you think it, say it.
The nice thing about Radical Honesty is that it would make work more efficient and effective. People would speak plainly and directly, getting what they need quicker. The dance of office politics would be mitigated by open communication, which could lead to more merit-based advancement within organizations.
The downside, of course, is that everyone would be a jerk.
If the filter between the brain and mouth is lifted, politeness goes out the window. This would lead to greater conflicts (though admittedly, the possibility of conflict resolution in a timely manner is significantly higher) and more interpersonal problems between workers, as the thin veneer of civility is ripped away. Conversations might go like this:
Boss: Frank, where’s the report you were supposed to have on my desk two hours ago?
Frank: Well, boss, I blew it off because I don’t like being given busy work so instead I played Farmville on Facebook and chatted with my friends on Gmail.
Boss: I don’t like you.
If all of this seems a bit familiar, it might be because the concept was explored pretty well in the first third of the recent movie, The Invention of Lying. But might a bit of Radical Honesty be a good thing?
The problem with verbal communication is that the words spoken to others mean very little. We rely on tone and body language far more than what is actually spoken to decode what others really mean. But if language is delivered plainly and directly, with no hidden meaning, the other signals become complimentary and inconsequential. This means that any method we use to communicate with others, be it in person, over the phone or in text, is just as valid as the others and eliminates some of the weaknesses in non-physical communications.
Even though Radical Honesty would create a culture of jackassery, using some if its principles to create more clear and concise communications with others can help you to become more efficient and effective in the workplace.
