TO
LIE
OR
NOT
TO
LIE
By
Marilyn
Tam
Scott
Thompson,
the
four
months
old
CEO
of
Yahoo,
was
forced
to
resign
because
he
lied
on
his
resume.
Worse,
he
lied
about
his
lying
and
was
found
out.
He
denied
that
he
inserted
an
extra
degree
into
his
resume,
and
then
he
blamed
the
recruiting
firm
he
worked
with
for
doing
so.
The
recruiting
firm,
wanting
to
maintain
their
reputation,
showed
that
it
was
Mr.
Thompson
who
lied.
Net
result
is
that
Mr.
Thompson
now
has
much
more
time
to
contemplate
the
efficacy
of
lying.
The
question
is,
what
are
we
willing
to
tolerate
in
our
leaders’
behavior
and
reflectively
in
our
own?
Lying
is
bad.
We’ve
been
told
that
ever
since
we
were
little.
Or
have
we?
Haven’t
we
also
been
told,
“don’t
say
that,
it
will
make
them
feel
bad”,
and
there
are
such
things
as
“white
lies”,
as
compared
to
I
guess
black
lies,
which
are
bad.
So
we
have
grown
up
with
some
sense
of
expediency
in
what
we
call
lying.
Why
do
people
lie?
Is
it
because
there
is
a
perception
that
one
can
get
ahead
faster
by
lying
than
by
telling
the
truth?
Why
would
someone
who
is
already
well
credentialed
and
respected
feel
the
need
to
embellish
his
or
her
story?
Is
it
a
basic
human
nature
to
try
to
appear
more
than
we
are?