Good stuff. It took me quite a long time to work these ideas out for myself. There are also situations in which it can be beneficial to let somewhat obvious non-truths continue existing.
Example: your boss is good at doing something but his theoretical explanation for why it works is nonsense. Most of the time questioning the theory is only likely to piss them off, and unless you can replace it with something better, keeping your mouth shut is probably the safest option.
What happens when you try to replicate what your boss is doing? For example when you decide to start your own competing company.
Then I suspect it would be useful to know the truths like “my boss always says X, but really does Y when this situation happens”, so that when the situation happens, you remember to do Y instead of X. Even if for an employee, saying “you always say X, but you actually do Y” to your boss would be dangerous.
So, some truths may be good to know, while dangerous to talk about in front of people who have a negative reaction to hearing them. You may remember that “X” is the proper thing to say to your boss, and silently remember that “Y” is the thing that probably contributes to the success in the position of your boss.
Replacing your boss is not the only situation where knowing the true boss-algorithm is useful. For example knowing the true mechanism how your boss decides who will get bonus and who will get fired.
Good stuff. It took me quite a long time to work these ideas out for myself. There are also situations in which it can be beneficial to let somewhat obvious non-truths continue existing.
Example: your boss is good at doing something but his theoretical explanation for why it works is nonsense. Most of the time questioning the theory is only likely to piss them off, and unless you can replace it with something better, keeping your mouth shut is probably the safest option.
Relevant post:
http://cognitiveengineer.blogspot.com/2013/06/when-truth-isnt-enough.html
What happens when you try to replicate what your boss is doing? For example when you decide to start your own competing company.
Then I suspect it would be useful to know the truths like “my boss always says X, but really does Y when this situation happens”, so that when the situation happens, you remember to do Y instead of X. Even if for an employee, saying “you always say X, but you actually do Y” to your boss would be dangerous.
So, some truths may be good to know, while dangerous to talk about in front of people who have a negative reaction to hearing them. You may remember that “X” is the proper thing to say to your boss, and silently remember that “Y” is the thing that probably contributes to the success in the position of your boss.
Replacing your boss is not the only situation where knowing the true boss-algorithm is useful. For example knowing the true mechanism how your boss decides who will get bonus and who will get fired.