Should we call people's BS always, sometimes, never, when it arises at work?
How many lies or half truths have you heard in the past week?
Stefan Stern (FT, August 11) thinks We should recognize value of BS.
He was prompted to comment on the topic after receiving a copy of Beyond Bullsh*t, Straight-Talk at Work (Stanford University Press) by Samuel Culbert, a professor of management at the University of California in Los Angeles.
The author would like this effort to be a way to clear things up "For people who wonder what it’s going to take to get rid of the constant deception and obfuscation that, at the end of the work day, leaves them feeling beaten up, confused, and even a little dirty. It is also for the people greeting them at home, wondering, “What’s going on that takes such a toll?” Pressed for an answer, many explain “it’s all the bullsh*t I have to endure.”
Susan Bassnett (University of Warwick, I will skip her long title) warns us to be patient with the book early chapter as she "nearly didn't get beyond the sycophantic foreword, written by an old mate of his, and a dire autobiographical prologue where we learn about Culbert's depressive Christian Scientist mother, his heavy-drinking father, his childhood job in an asbestos factory and the "wise and generous 'Negro' foreman". But I persevered, and I'm glad I did, because if you can get over the style (or lack of it), which owes a great deal to daytime TV chat shows, there's some interesting and useful stuff in this book"...
So what's your take, brutal honesty vs political survivors and all the shades of Grey in between...
That's it for Monday Work Etiquette # 50 (almost a year of it !!!)
Related: On Culture Clash, Dry Humor...Business Down Under...Monday Work Etiquette #4
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