Graham Edmonds - Liars Paradise: The Seven Degrees of Corporate Deceit

Those of us who have worked in the corporate world are very likely to have seen friendly colleagues become enemies, seen ruthless and callous management at work and watched the corporate bullies bullying, while behind the scenes, the back-stabbers worked to their own ends and the lies kept on coming from all sides.

In an attempt to survive in this world, I have catalogued the behaviour and language that corporate liars and office cheats use to get their way. As there are no Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers to help with office politics, the aim of this book is to help those who are bewildered by the machinations of their colleagues.

Watch any episode of The Apprentice and youll see the contestants grappling with the deception dilemma. Many just admit that they are out to undermine their competitors and lie openly. Some say that they dont tell lies, until it comes to the point when they have to protect themselves. The last group are genuinely honest and often struggle to survive the interview process and we sit and watch their bewilderment at what happens to them when they are being manipulated by the other competitors.

At work, being too nice is often seen as a sign of weakness, while being strong is about standing up for your beliefs; however most of us are not entirely nice or particularly strong and in the end, its all a matter of perception. How often do those best at standing up and giving good presentations get promoted above those who have ability?

Deception is endemic in our corporate society and everyone who works within a company (large or small) has to decide at some point, whether a life of lying is for them. For some it comes naturally, even unconsciously (as they lie to themselves), while for others its a game that has to be learned, but whichever way you look at it, theres a choice to be made.

I hope this book helps to make that choice.

Evil characters in movies are always the most watchable and its the same in real life, we cant help it good equals boring while evil equals excitement. Were drawn to people who offer a little danger and we like to take risks. Its dull being good all the time so why not spice up life with a little mischief? After all, it cant do any harm, can it?

Welcome, youve passed into the liars paradise. Ive defined it as an environment where deception is ingrained into the culture, where liars thrive, where facts are not facts and the truth is obscured. Sadly, it applies to many offices, companies and workplaces all over the world.

On the face of it lying works in most areas of business so if your aim is to make as much money as possible then its a profitable policy, but the question is: can you live with it?

Before we answer this and get too moral and self-righteous, its worth taking time to think what sort of a world it would be if everyone told the truth and there were no lies.

There would be no crime and what would we watch on TV? Nature programmes, sport? Football would be a less entertaining game, but at least no one would dive. Would cookery programmes survive the crushing honesty That meal was rubbish, Jamie. Possibly only home makeover shows would end up being more entertaining. There would be no novels written. No gossip, no jokes, no lying for good, there would be no affairs, no scandal and the only news programmes would feature natural disasters and accidents (everyone involved would have to admit their mistakes).

Normal business couldnt function and what society exists would be a heartless one, with no doubt, massive unemployment. There would be no end to the tedium of it. Life would be boring as no doubt we would all clam up, being crippled by the endless criticism that complete honesty brings.

We need lies for the world to function and to smooth the interaction between us. Lies are the lubricant that dampens the friction that total honesty brings.

This book though is about those lies that dont help. Its about those people who take things a little too far, who act with malice, greed and self-aggrandisement. It isnt just a load of anecdotes about lying. If it means that after reading it one person can be less of a bullshitter, or it helps you identify someone who is stitching you up and enables you to do something about it, then it will have been worth the writing.

Liars Paradise an environment where deception is ingrained into the culture, where liars thrive, where facts are not facts and the truth is obscured.