The Jobs Where Liars Excel

So there I was, preparing for a meeting and flinging (metaphorical) poo at the internet when this popped out of one of the feeds.

From BBC - Capital, June 26:

It’s a head-scratcher: in some jobs, being less trustworthy means that other people will trust you to be better at that job.

I have a confession: I lie. A lot. I lie to stop or start conversations, to spare others’ feelings, or my own, and to simplify social or professional life in a million little ways.
To some extent we know that the people we work with are lying to us. They can’t always be having a good day, be excited about work or be completely happy for a colleague who’s been promoted instead of them.

But what about when deception isn’t just about mood, but is baked into the content of a job? New research suggests that one reason lying persists in certain professions is the belief that people with flexible attitudes towards the truth are actually better at these jobs.

Attitudes toward workplace liars
In general, deception in the workplace is viewed negatively – if someone has to resort to lying, they’re probably not very good at their job. And deceit can be toxic to a culture of trust and teamwork. But according to recent research by US academics Brian C Gunia and Emma E Levine, there’s an exception for jobs that are perceived as being high in selling orientation rather than customer orientation....MORE

Now there's more to this story than the fact people think lying and sales go together. That's been going on forever, from sharp practice to outright theft, from Jack and the Beanstalk to modern securities law: "...employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud".

The new thing seems to be a devolution toward this behavior in many, many aspects of society.
More to come.