Politeness.

Highly rated in some circles. Especially if, like me, you live or grew up in England where it’s the considered the stuff of civilised human interaction.

And yet, the more I look, the more it seems that politeness and truth are very often at odds with one another, particularly when it comes to the ways we speak and work together in organisations.

And while truth might at times be sharp, unsettling and surprising, I can’t think of a more important principle around which to organise ourselves.

Because it’s not hard to figure out where the alternative – denial, or perhaps even lying – leads.

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