Philosophical Question: Is It Ever Acceptable To Lie?

Dear Import/Export Compliance Manager,

I have a rather simple question for you: is it ever acceptable to lie in order to ensure compliance?

Truthy in Tuscaloosa

Dear Truthy,

The Import/Export Compliance Manager still remembers a lesson from his high school government class concerning lobbyists.  The cynical teenaged Import/Export Compliance Manager was certain that lobbyists were the scum of the earth, doing whatever it took to get their way, even to the point of lying.  The teacher then made a mind-blowing statement: lobbyists must tell the truth.  Why is that?  Well, the function of lobbyists is to provide information to politicians in order to get government to act in their clients’ favor.  The information provided may be slanted or biased; however, it MUST be truthful.  If a lobbyist is caught in a lie, how is the politician to know if anything else that the lobbyist might say is also not a lie?  In short, the lobbyist’s credibility can be blown. 

Who are the lobbyist equivalents in the import/export compliance world?  Vendors!  When an outside company is trying to sell you on the merits of their systems and the limitations of their competitors’ solutions, they absolutely must be on the up-and-up.  As soon as you, as the potential buyer, think that they are not telling the truth, you are less likely to take other evidence the vendor has provided into consideration when making a decision.  You are also more likely to utilize a competitor who you do trust (though other considerations such as budget will still factor in heavily).

You as an import/export compliance professional have the exact same risks as vendors.  The big difference is that your customers are mostly internal, from your compatriots in other departments to the others in the Import/Export Compliance Department.  As a compliance professional, your credibility is everything.  The consequences of a vendor losing trust is a lost sale; the consequences of you losing trust can be a major violation.

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Ok, ok, thinking further, maybe it is too much of a blanket statement to say that all lies are unacceptable, however.  Let’s have some fun and break this down.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager can think of four types: Outright, Optimistic, Ignorant and Lies of Omission. 

An Outright Lie occurs when the person knows what they are saying is 100% false and will always be 100% false.  These should be avoided at all costs. 

An Optimistic Lie occurs when you say something that is likely true but may actually be false.  A good example is telling a training class that if they commit an export violation, they will go to jail.  They might but, far more likely, they’ll be fired and the company will pay a fine.  These are ok, but only if you turn out to be correct.  If you turn out to be wrong, well, you know.  The Import/Export Compliance Manager’s favorite one of these was from a vendor who promised a needed feature would assuredly appear in the next release of their product.  A less refined term for this type of lie is bull(rhymes with ‘pit’).  Don’t do this, either.

Ignorant Lies can occur when you say something that you didn’t realize was false.  An example would be if you were to speculate that a particular employee is doing something untoward.  It is imperative for import/export compliance professionals to avoid Ignorant Lies like the plague; they can make you look like you have no idea what you’re talking about.  If you tell an Ignorant Lie and realize, later, that you’ve done it, it is advisable to notify your audience that you were indeed incorrect.  Paradoxically, this can actually work to build your level of trust. 

Lies of Omission occur when you tell the truth, but leave important information out that might detract from your message.  For example, when trying to justify an export license management system, you provide piles of examples of companies getting hammered for export violations, picking essentially the worst examples.  What you leave out is the fact that your company is low risk.  This type of lie can damage your credibility just as easily as it shows you are willing to cherry-pick facts to support your position.

And, as the police will tell you, it’s more difficult to remember a lie than the truth.  This is why they ask so many questions during interrogations, including repeating many of the questions to see whether the suspect’s answers are the same.

There may be other categories of lies absent from this list.  Regardless, to answer the original question, the Import/Export Compliance Manager doesn’t recommend lying in any circumstances and in fact prefers being known as the overly-open truth-teller, willing to tell it like it is to anyone who will listen.  That way, when you have to deliver heavy and unwelcome news, no one questions whether you’re telling the truth or not.

Thanks for the deep question.  And that’s the truth!