Saturday, August 25, 2012

A Passion for Truth

Truth seems a rare commodity today. Baseball players being suspended for doping. Politicians who get caught trying to dismiss or justify what they said or did. Lance Armstrong banned for life - I'm not sure what to believe in this one.

I recently finished the book Egonomics, an insightful, hard-hitting, practical read on the ego - how it becomes an enemy and how it can be an asset. I highlighted and marked up the entire book but the chapter that captured my heart the most was the last one titled "Veracity." Veracity is the "habitual pursuit of, and adherence to, truth. Both pursuit and adherence matter immensely: pursuit in arriving at truth, and adherence in making a change once truth is discovered." (p. 200)

Jesus said it this way 2000 years ago:


"Then you will know the truth, and 
the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32


Truth grows our hearts, saves time, strengthens relationships and builds organizations.  
In business, veracity is the pursuit of reality - the difference between what we think is happening and what's actually going on. That pursuit must be relentless because what's true in business or science today will change. (p. 200)
The authors used an illustration that points out the trouble with ego when it comes to truth. If someone, they write, points out that our car is leaking some fluid we thank them and do some checking. If on the other hand someone points out that our strategy is leaking we take it personally. Part of the issue, they identify, is control. We don't control what happens with our car but in business we think we're supposed to be in control. We should have controlled that which someone points out as weak or broken.....so we think. Our ability and perhaps our identity has been brought into question.

Why do we find truth so difficult? As a Christ-follower, truth is found in the bedrock of our faith. Jesus calls Himself "the way, the TRUTH, and the life" (John 14:6).

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying 
tongue lasts only a moment.
Proverbs 12:19

For me it goes back to the phrase "Quit Taking It Personally." Truth is just truth. Truth has no agenda.

In Egonomics, the authors suggest two key skills in the pursuit of a culture of veracity: speaking up and hearing down. They refer to reporting lines in business.
Hearing down means we listen in a way that encourages people who report to us to speak their mind and prevents seekign acceptance from being their - or our - highest priority. Speaking up requires candor with those to whom we report, without putting either person in jeopardy. People tend to confuse criticism ofteir stragegy with criticism of their identity. consequently, we must speak up in a ay that doesn't provoke others to be defensive or showcase brilliance to defy what we say. (p. 207)
Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, lists "conflict" as a major barrier to operating as a team. He's continued that theme in more recent works (The Simple Naked Truth for instance), saying that conflict is necessary for anything from great meetings to healthy organizations. Dissent does not equal disloyalty. The drive for consensus can actually short-circuit the pursuit of truth. "The real disloyalty is keeping silent when something needs to be said." (Egonomics, p. 210)

The Internet, magazines and books are full of pointers and advice on getting your employees to tell the truth, to give you the feedback the company needs: How to Get Feedback When You're the Boss is a great example from the Harvard Business Review blog. Truth, the world agrees, is difficult to find.

Why?

Protecting an image
Ego is in control when we want to protect an image we want others to have of us. We seek to control other perceptions of us and in the process kill truth. We don't want to hear truth and respond defensively when we feel like our desired image is in danger. We won't speak truth when we fear damaging another's image - at least the one we perceive he or she wants to keep. We think it but we won't say it.

Speaking Differently
In order to establish a culture of veracity, we need to speak differently. When approaching someone with a truth, the Egonomics authors offer three suggestions (pp. 216-222)

1. Establish permission through ringing the doorbell of the other person's heart. 

  • "Could I share something with you....."
  • "At the risk of sounding like I just don't get it - and may be I don't - could I ask a question?"
  • "It could be just me, but it seems we're missing something in our discussion....
2. Make your intent clear. They write a good reminder - "remember, humility's intent is devotion to progress" (218). If intent is clear then "it's easier to focus on the message rather than question our intent" (219). Some possible ways to do that include:
  • "I'd like to put something on the table that's bothering me..."
  • Instead of saying: "We're wrong" - say "I'm not sure the logic behind this idea is sound."
3. Be candid. Get the facts out on the table. Say what's on our mind as candidly as possible. "Veracity doesn't assume we're unbiased. Our perceptions may be right, and they may just as easily be wrong. In either case, companies are better off when people speak up." (222)


Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom,
instruction and insight as well.
Proverbs 23:23

As I finished up this book God's Spirit seared this thing about veracity in my heart. Building a culture of truth just might be the most important thing I can do. Truth about the condition of the human heart without Jesus. Truth about our present reality and future vision.

I said above that a culture of truth saves time. What I mean is that if I choose not to walk across the hall to a colleague and instead go to two or three other offices to talk about that person and the situation, I've wasted a lot of time - both mine and others. When our commitment is more to protecting an image than to the good of the organization and therefore not speaking truth, it's a time waster. Telling the truth saves time - and lives.

Any organization will benefit from a culture of truth. Churches and families will benefit even more:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; 
he will speak only what he hears, and he will 
tell you what is yet to come.
John 16:13 

God is about truth. We as His followers are called to be committed to it. We're not responsible for the other person's response. We are responsible for HOW we say it and the intent with which it is said. If truth has no agenda then we have nothing to fear.

There is a second side to veracity that I'll write about later: adherence to the truth. If we learn something but it doesn't impact how we live and work, have we really learned it?

Where are you on living truthfully, veracity? Are you passionate in the pursuit of truth or do you shade the truth wherever you can? Are you protecting an image? Be committed to truth and the God who is Truth.



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