Why Do We Lie?

Harvard Business Review conducted a 15-year longitudinal study and concluded:

1. 54% of the companies they observed suffered a material drop in trust
2. At a cost of at LEAST $180 billion and 
3. At least 2% index score drop.

What are the four main causes of lack of trust that creates a 'lying organization'?

1. Weak cross-functional collaboration:  Silos cause almost a 6x increase in withholding or distorting of information.
2. No effective process to gather decision makers into honest conversations about tough issues.  Organizations have to rely on rumors and gossip.  Interestingly, those types of companies found 71% of meetings to be unproductive
3. Unjust Accountability Systems:  Organizations are 377% more likely to withhold or distort info if employee contribution measurement is seen as unfair.
4. Lack of Strategic Clarity:  Employees are 283% more likely to withhold or distort the truth when there isn't clear alignment about what companies vision says they will do and what they actually do.

https://hbr.org/2019/02/4-ways-lying-becomes-the-norm-at-a-company