In a 2003 article of the American Psychological Association, a study conducted by a Dr. DePaulo concluded that 20 to 33% of the daily interactions of humans are deceptive. Think about that. Out of every four interactions with others, it is calculated there is some deception conveyed in at least one of those interactions. Sobering to say the least, isn't it? The verse today expands that thought by stating that deceptive people will perform deceptive work.
What is meant by deceptive work in the context of Proverbs 11:18? It can be described as work that deceives and disappoints the worker. Looked at another way, it is work that fails to satisfy. And finally, I think it speaks of work that gives NO lasting profit.
In the blog this week, I want us to consider three sources of deceptive work.
First of all, the root cause and source of deceptive work comes from our inability or choice not to tell the truth consistently. Putting it bluntly, lying will cause us to do deceptive work. Being called a liar, or calling someone a liar is pretty serious, yet lying has many faces. Let's consider three types. There is the "being two-faced" liar. In the work environment, two-faced deception is usually done in order to seek some kind of personal gain. Have you ever tried to discredit a co-worker in an attempt to make yourself look better to your superiors? Maybe your behavior around your boss is totally a "put on" in order to get them to like you, because your motive is for personal gain. That is being two-faced. That will cause you to do deceptive work. Next there is the "Cover-Up" liar. Their whole work philosophy revolves on making sure they cover their "you know what" in every situation. Covering yourself when you know you were wrong, whether it is producing shoddy work, blaming someone else for your mistakes or a host of other reasons will cause you to ultimately produce deceptive work. Then, there is the compulsive liar. The person that tells so many lies, even more lies are told to cover other lies. Perhaps this is the person we've always considered to be the "true" liar, but that is not true. This person is just a little more obvious with their lies, but that is, only if they get caught. How many liars have lied their entire lives, but have managed to somehow never be caught? Their lying, even though not found out, produces deceptive work.
Secondly, deceptive work is not only performed by individuals. Sometimes that deception permeates the culture of a company, so that the deceptiveness of the employees of that company comes from the systemic deception of the corrupt business practices of the company itself. Such workplace climates are incredibly stressful for honest employees who must learn to survive by expecting that their co-workers and supervisors will deceive them, adopting a deceptive work style in return, and simply grinding through work days without being invested in their work. How would you, or maybe I should say, how do you cope in that type of work environment? In a study put out by the "Workplace Bullying Institute" on April 23, 2011, a worker in this kind of company climate was quoted as saying, "It's just the culture. So it's kind of like a survival of the fittest, but you've got to be a dirty dog to work there. In my opinion, you can't be honest and survive." Isn't that last statement sad? I believe you can be honest and survive, but your survival may mean finding a new place of employment. Maintaining your integrity should not be negotiable.
So far, we have looked at two sources of workplace deception that are both quite extreme. The last source of deceptive work may not seem quite obvious. In fact, it is practiced daily by a large number of honest, well meaning, respected individuals and companies. I'm referring to the deceptive works that result from "cutting corners". Unfortunately, most, if not all, of us are guilty of cutting corners from time to time, but that does not make it right. Cutting corners produces deceptive work, work that gives no lasting profit.
Businesses take risks all the time. It's just part of running a business. There's almost no such thing as a business that runs with no risk; but cutting corners is a different story. Cutting corners is doing things less than your best to achieve some end goal. It may feel like you're making progress by cutting corners, but at the end of the day you're not. Current economic challenges have forced a lot of companies to make cost-cutting measures to protect the bottom line. Cost-cutting and cutting corners are not the same thing, but too often, they become one and the same. When you cut corners, you cheapen the product or service.
Consider the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. After Hurricane Dennis in 2005, BP's new oil platform, Thunder Horse that was designed to produce 20% of the gulf's oil output was knocked to its side by the hurricane, before it could produce one barrel of oil. During the cleanup, multiple construction flaws were discovered including shoddy welding and pump valves installed upside down to name a few. It was quite evident that a number of corners were cut in its construction. Yet five years later, apparently the lessons of 2005 were not learned when oil begin to pour out of the platform at Deepwater Horizon. (NY Times 7/12/10)
Have you started cutting corners on your job? You skip a step here, fudge a report there. It's no big deal, right? Wrong! It's deceptive work. Deceptive work will yield no lasting profit.
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