A friend recently experienced having a co-worker fired for what sounded like valid reasons even if the actual process of dismissal might not have been handled as well as it could have been. In the description of events that led up to the parting of ways, it seemed to be a classic case of an individual who played fast and loose with the truth at a minimum and quite possibly sprinkled in some lies along the way. Don’t get me wrong – the, “Yes, I’ll get right on that,” when what you mean is, “I’ve got more important things to do and I’ll take care of it when I’m good and ready,” is the sort of thing that most of us have done in a work setting. Claiming that you never saw a request for something when what you really did was set it aside and forgot about it gets a little “fuzzier” when it comes to differentiating between truth and lies. The harsh reality though is that there are people in the workplace who are out-and-out liars and while it often catches up with them, that’s not a given. Indeed, some of them benefit from their lies and are greatly rewarded, which is why other people will perhaps find other work rather than continue in an environment like that.

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, there are honest mistakes and perceptions/perspectives can depart from actual facts. Then there is the very human trait of not wanting to admit being wrong. The first time I encountered a person who routinely lied, I chalked it up to one of the above. After all, this was a professional, intelligent individual. It was difficult to believe that other motive was at play, but it also didn’t take too long for me to learn to carefully document any transactions that I had with the individual and to preferably have conversations with at least one other person present. Fortunately our work overlap was of relatively short duration. It was one of those unpleasant, but important life lessons.