Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career

Chapter Twenty

SPIN DOCTOR

The president is due to arrive, and your boss has told you not to reveal a serious flaw in the proposal. He said to use a bit of spin.

 

 

 

 

A big problem for the corporate world over the last decade is the perception that more and more spin is being used. International politics is beset with this phenomenon, and corporate world examples are often highly visible. Reputation damage can be fatal as public trust is eroded and sales fall—and the consequences for individuals can be just as serious. Today, spin and perception management seem as common within organizations as they do in politics or the media.

When we face this dilemma, our integrity is tested. What do we do when we are asked to mislead? How do we bridge the gap between our own integrity and the spin we are being asked to use? What do we do when we are asked to be the spin doctor?

The Spin Doctor Dilemma

The bottom line is that I’m being asked by Al, the president, to cover up some serious flaws in a piece of product research when John, the CEO, comes to visit next week. This product is being hailed as a true innovation, which will launch Xennic into a completely new sector as a market leader if we pull it off. Success will make millions. However, there are some serious problems in the research, and my professional view is that it will take the best part of a year to resolve these issues. From what I can ascertain, none of our competitors are even thinking in this way, so we ...