By Tony Deblauwe
An interesting article was posted today talking about common lies employees use at work. Faking illness or getting out of work early is probably used most often. Blaming others sure, but what about lying about work output? I know many people who have promised projects that did not yield 1/10th of what was expected. Is this a lie or poor performance?
The challenge with job performance and lying (to save face) is subtle. On one hand, if you fess up that you cannot deliver what your boss or peers believe is your job then you are potentially admitting you are unqualified. But your honesty sets the right parameters to deliver properly. When you deliver a poor project because you "lied" and inflated what you could do it's a credibility killer.
In terms of what can get you fired - bottom line, do what you say and say what you do. Anything else you set yourself (and others) up for disappointment.
