If You Canât Tell Them âWhat,â at Least Give Them âWhyâ!
If you canât tell people âwhat,â then at least give them the reason âwhyâ they canât know at this stage. This offers one productive step forward. Understanding why they canât be told the full story helps them focus on the bigger picture and the potential consequences if the information was shared more widely. It can help them appreciate the difficult position you are in and help them appreciate your dilemma. It is unlikely that they will sympathize, but at least you can invite them to empathize with you. This also goes a long way in helping you avoid appearing deliberately obtuse or evasive in your dealings with them. People will accept almost any âwhatâ if the âwhyâ is made explicit to them; provided that the âwhyâ seems valid.
However, when it comes to explaining the âwhyâ rather than the âwhat,â more problems can be caused if people hear the story separately. Each individual hearing your statement will take away his or her own interpretation of what you said. At best, they only hear what you say selectively. They may internalize and exaggerate parts of what you saidâperhaps even make some stuff upâand put it into their own words. Then, they enjoy retelling their version of what you told them to others, and this revised version of your careful statement is likely to be distorted and perhaps even unrecognizable from what you said. Victoriaâs secrets are prone to distortion. ...