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> Transparency is not your job. > You're job is to keep telling your reports that everything is on track no matter what > This will 100% require lying or be

> Transparency is not your job. > You're job is to keep telling your reports that everything is on track no matter what > This will 100% require lying or being non-transparent at some point. Following this advice is another way of loosing employees, at least I'd leave a company quickly if the CTO started lying about potential problems not being problems. In the end, depends on the company. Usually the company I've worked in, have valued transparency, so employees can decide themselves if they want to continue working there or not, when there are potential issues. Not sure who it'll be good for if things are delayed in a project, you might be able to ship a good product but then the executive team is all like "Noooo, what you're hearing is just rumors, everything is fine and all will be good when we release".

NegativeLatency 4y ago
> I'd leave a company quickly if the CTO started lying about potential problems not being problems Absolutely. In the case of someone saying a clear problem is not a problem, we have a few cases: The first, they're lying to me, in that case they're dishonest and I dont want to work there, they're probably just covering it up to make some money and then move on when things fall apart. The second, they're incompetent and actually don't realize it's a problem, why would I want to work for someone who's bad at their job. Probably others but I can't think of them
citizenpaul 4y ago
>all will be good when we release Well I've literally been in the position where this was true to close a deal so we could stay in business. What would be the best option in your opinion? Risk a critical person leaving right then and loosing the customer and then losing everyone job? Or lying and telling them we are all ok just keep on doing your job and don't listen to rumors? You are espousing false virtue/armchair quarterback. Real life is complex and lying can save many people jobs.
- celdon25 4y ago
  In real life, some people are human lie detectors, or at least better at detecting lies than you are a liar. But I can acknowledge there are cases where transparency is simply not an option.
- warent 4y ago
  "Things are tough right now, but once we close this deal then we'll be in a much more comfortable position. Your role on this is critical to our success." Is this not a reasonable way of approaching it? It seems to be simultaneously honest and empowering. What lie is necessary? EDIT: slight revision
  - random314 4y ago
    Compulsive liars cannot change their habits.
    - sahila 4y ago
      And gasp you may have to reward your worker because they truly are that valuable instead of reaping all the benefit for the cto.
      - citizenpaul 4y ago
        Thats mostly a CEO trait. Remember CTO,CFO,COO,CIO, ect are all just jobs. You ultimately report to the CEO, whom ultimately reports to the investors,stakeholders, capital partners, b2b relationships and so on. For the record I gave 100% of bonuses I had awarded to my staff and 0% to myself the entire tenure.
        random314 4y ago
        Who awards bonuses to themselves?!
  - citizenpaul 4y ago
    I wasn't trying to write a business book but what you wrote is fine usually for the senior level employees that get how business works and probably took the job with the understanding of the weight of their position. However you will also have fickle entry/low/mid level employees that don't have the maturity to accept the realities of the business world.
- kelnos 4y ago
  > You are espousing false virtue/armchair quarterback. Real life is complex and lying can save many people jobs. I'd rather my job disappear than still be there because someone with employment power over me lied to me. This isn't false virtue or armchair anything. No exceptions, or I don't work with you ever again. It's not hard. Learn to communicate effectively, and learn to treat your employees with the respect they deserve.
  - skipidarink 4y ago
    Consider that you're advertising yourself as the type of person who absolutely must be lied to in order to maintain morale. I've been close to situations where the ICs did their absolute best and it was a total waste because of politics outside of their control. Do you tell them that so-and-so highly-respected person was shit-talking them because of an unrelated agenda and invalidated all of their work? Or do you tell them good job (it was a good job) and not get into it?
    - warent 4y ago
      Frankly if this actually happened, I would do neither. Just tell my IC "I'm not sure why your work was invalidated. Let me look into it for you." and then address this as a grievous issue on behalf of my IC with the leadership. If leadership doesn't fix the problem then just resign in protest. EDIT: It's now occurring to me that there's probably different schools of thought here. Yes, I've resigned in protest on behalf of my workers before. If my team is getting fucked, then I've either failed my team, or my purpose is meaningless. Either way, get me out.
      - skipidarink 4y ago
        > Just tell my IC "I'm not sure why your work was invalidated. Let me look into it for you." And so you take your first step down the path.. "I'm not sure" is a lie here.
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
- light_hue_1 4y ago
  > Well I've literally been in the position where this was true to close a deal so we could stay in business. What would be the best option in your opinion? Risk a critical person leaving right then and loosing the customer and then losing everyone job? Or lying and telling them we are all ok just keep on doing your job and don't listen to rumors? Well I've literally been in this position too. Lying to people is ineffective. It literally leads to the rumors you want to avoid. And even if your lies pay off, people aren't dumb. They realize how close to the edge they were and that you are a liar. Next time it will just be worse! It's much better to be honest. Explain the situation. Explain what it will take. Use it to motivate people and build them up. People love a challenge, they want to feel like they're the hero of a story. You literally took a situation where your employees would have come out stronger and more motivated to work for you, and you turned it into one where they walked away with mistrust. > You are espousing false virtue/armchair quarterback. Real life is complex and lying can save many people jobs. It has nothing to do with virtue! Even if you don't give a damn about being a good human being, this is a terrible way to manage people.

NegativeLatency 4y ago

> I'd leave a company quickly if the CTO started lying about potential problems not being problems Absolutely. In the case of someone saying a clear problem is not a problem, we have a few cases: The first, they're lying to me, in that case they're dishonest and I dont want to work there, they're probably just covering it up to make some money and then move on when things fall apart. The second, they're incompetent and actually don't realize it's a problem, why would I want to work for someone who's bad at their job. Probably others but I can't think of them

citizenpaul 4y ago

>all will be good when we release Well I've literally been in the position where this was true to close a deal so we could stay in business. What would be the best option in your opinion? Risk a critical person leaving right then and loosing the customer and then losing everyone job? Or lying and telling them we are all ok just keep on doing your job and don't listen to rumors? You are espousing false virtue/armchair quarterback. Real life is complex and lying can save many people jobs.

celdon25 4y ago
In real life, some people are human lie detectors, or at least better at detecting lies than you are a liar. But I can acknowledge there are cases where transparency is simply not an option.
warent 4y ago
"Things are tough right now, but once we close this deal then we'll be in a much more comfortable position. Your role on this is critical to our success." Is this not a reasonable way of approaching it? It seems to be simultaneously honest and empowering. What lie is necessary? EDIT: slight revision
- random314 4y ago
  Compulsive liars cannot change their habits.
  - sahila 4y ago
    And gasp you may have to reward your worker because they truly are that valuable instead of reaping all the benefit for the cto.
    - citizenpaul 4y ago
      Thats mostly a CEO trait. Remember CTO,CFO,COO,CIO, ect are all just jobs. You ultimately report to the CEO, whom ultimately reports to the investors,stakeholders, capital partners, b2b relationships and so on. For the record I gave 100% of bonuses I had awarded to my staff and 0% to myself the entire tenure.
      - random314 4y ago
        Who awards bonuses to themselves?!
- citizenpaul 4y ago
  I wasn't trying to write a business book but what you wrote is fine usually for the senior level employees that get how business works and probably took the job with the understanding of the weight of their position. However you will also have fickle entry/low/mid level employees that don't have the maturity to accept the realities of the business world.
kelnos 4y ago
> You are espousing false virtue/armchair quarterback. Real life is complex and lying can save many people jobs. I'd rather my job disappear than still be there because someone with employment power over me lied to me. This isn't false virtue or armchair anything. No exceptions, or I don't work with you ever again. It's not hard. Learn to communicate effectively, and learn to treat your employees with the respect they deserve.
- skipidarink 4y ago
  Consider that you're advertising yourself as the type of person who absolutely must be lied to in order to maintain morale. I've been close to situations where the ICs did their absolute best and it was a total waste because of politics outside of their control. Do you tell them that so-and-so highly-respected person was shit-talking them because of an unrelated agenda and invalidated all of their work? Or do you tell them good job (it was a good job) and not get into it?
  - warent 4y ago
    Frankly if this actually happened, I would do neither. Just tell my IC "I'm not sure why your work was invalidated. Let me look into it for you." and then address this as a grievous issue on behalf of my IC with the leadership. If leadership doesn't fix the problem then just resign in protest. EDIT: It's now occurring to me that there's probably different schools of thought here. Yes, I've resigned in protest on behalf of my workers before. If my team is getting fucked, then I've either failed my team, or my purpose is meaningless. Either way, get me out.
    - skipidarink 4y ago
      > Just tell my IC "I'm not sure why your work was invalidated. Let me look into it for you." And so you take your first step down the path.. "I'm not sure" is a lie here.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
light_hue_1 4y ago
> Well I've literally been in the position where this was true to close a deal so we could stay in business. What would be the best option in your opinion? Risk a critical person leaving right then and loosing the customer and then losing everyone job? Or lying and telling them we are all ok just keep on doing your job and don't listen to rumors? Well I've literally been in this position too. Lying to people is ineffective. It literally leads to the rumors you want to avoid. And even if your lies pay off, people aren't dumb. They realize how close to the edge they were and that you are a liar. Next time it will just be worse! It's much better to be honest. Explain the situation. Explain what it will take. Use it to motivate people and build them up. People love a challenge, they want to feel like they're the hero of a story. You literally took a situation where your employees would have come out stronger and more motivated to work for you, and you turned it into one where they walked away with mistrust. > You are espousing false virtue/armchair quarterback. Real life is complex and lying can save many people jobs. It has nothing to do with virtue! Even if you don't give a damn about being a good human being, this is a terrible way to manage people.