Never Lie, Always Comment

Most people believe organizations lie to them - and they’re right. Companies lie to customers. Governments lie to constituents. We've become so accustomed to organizational dishonesty that we're cynical about it (yet we're still somehow furious when we catch them in a lie).

Those of you who know me won’t be surprised by this, but my advice to organizations is absolute: never lie, always comment.

There will be times when you can’t be fully transparent, and that’s fine. But stonewalling with a “no comment” makes you sound soulless, and it’s a blown opportunity.

The two principles work together. The first protects your credibility and the second builds trust in less-than-ideal moments. You don’t have to choose between honesty and confidentiality; you can maintain boundaries while using them as opportunities to build your brand.

I call this “principled transparency”.

What Are We Actually Talking About?

A lie is intentionally making a statement that you know is false. It's not being mistaken. It's not being wrong. It’s not when things turn out differently from how you expected. It’s deliberately deceiving a constituency.

But what makes organizational communication tricky is all the possible nuance - you can lie without technically lying. You can make statements that are literally true but nonetheless deliberately misleading. Examples might be saying “We take security seriously” after a major breach, but not being clear about the scope. Or “we're committed to diversity” while your leadership team tells a different story. These might pass a polygraph, but they fail the honesty test.

Other than a banality like “it’s wrong”, why never lie? First: it corrupts your culture from within. When leadership lies to external stakeholders, employees learn that dishonesty is acceptable. The rot spreads. And second: one lie destroys years of credibility. Once caught, everything you’ve ever said becomes suspect.

Secrets Aren't Lies!

“Never lie” doesn't mean you have to tell all! Obviously, organizations have legitimate reasons for confidentiality: proprietary information, employee privacy, ongoing legal matters, incomplete information that could mislead if shared prematurely.

Most people get this. They don't expect you to share the source code for your SaaS product or the details of a person’s performance review.

Where organizations go wrong is how they maintain these boundaries. They say “no comment.” They hide behind boilerplate only a team of lawyers could love. They stonewall - which makes them look evasive and untrustworthy, even when protecting perfectly legitimate confidentiality.

Every Boundary Is a Chance to Communicate Your Values

Many organizations waste these moments with boilerplate or avoidance. I always counsel the opposite: turn them into opportunities to strengthen your brand.

Let's say you're asked about pending litigation with a former employee named Bob.

Wrong: “No comment.”

Still wrong: “We don't comment on personnel matters/pending litigation.”

Right: “We’re lucky to have more than 1,300 talented employees around the globe and we have a responsibility to each of them to protect their personal privacy. For that reason, we can't discuss the specifics of the pending litigation with Bob. What we can say is that we are grateful for Bob’s five years of service, we’re pleased he’s doing well, and we’re hopeful that this matter will be resolved soon.”

What makes this work? It protects a principle (employee privacy), not just a boundary. It shows values: we care about our people and we appreciate their work. It's human - we wish Bob well. Yet it still maintains the boundary - we won't discuss specifics. Most important: it signals what kind of organization you are, which signals what kind of humans you are.

Why This Matters: Everyone Is Watching

When you communicate - especially when things aren't perfect, or worse, you’re facing a crisis - multiple audiences are evaluating you simultaneously. The nature of the media beast is that (unfortunately) it’s often the hardest moments when the most eyes are on you.

Current and future employees are asking: “How would this company treat me? Can I trust what they tell me?” Customers wonder: “If they're evasive about this, what else are they hiding? Can I trust their ad and marketing content?” Investors ask: “Do they hide problems or address them responsibly? Is management trustworthy?” Regulators think: “Are they cooperative or evasive? Do we need to dig deeper?” Prospective litigants are watching, too.

It’s not terribly hard to communicate well when everything is great. The real test of organizational character comes when you have bad news to share, when you're facing uncertainty, or when you have constraints on what you can say.

These are precisely the moments when you have the greatest opportunity to build or destroy trust and, by extension, brand equity.

Yes, This Is Hard (But It’s Worth It)

This isn't easy. Principled transparency requires institutional courage, especially when the truth is uncomfortable. And it takes courage especially now, when we're watching shameless dishonesty modeled at the highest levels of government. It's tempting to think “well, if they can get away with it…” but that's exactly backwards. The more dishonesty people encounter elsewhere, the more valuable your company’s integrity becomes.

And it requires consistency - you can't do it only when it's convenient.

“But won't our competitors exploit our transparency?”

The reverse is true: trust is a competitive advantage. Companies known for straight dealing attract better talent, command better customer lenience when they stumble, get the benefit of the doubt in crises, expend fewer resources managing reputational risk, and face less regulatory scrutiny.

Your competitors can copy your product. They can't copy your reputation.

Yes, there are edge cases and extreme scenarios where truth-telling creates genuine harm. This framework is for normal organizational communication, not philosophy's trolley problems. In everyday business contexts, the answer is: don't lie, and explain any boundaries with principle and humanity.

The Long Game

The “never lie” principle isn't me being a Boy Scout (ask anyone who knows me!). It’s about playing the long game.

Your reputation for honesty and integrity is one of the few truly defensible competitive advantages you have. In the short term, a lie often seems expedient - it dodges an uncomfortable conversation or buys you time. But dishonesty is corrosive. It doesn't stay contained.

And stonewalling is a missed opportunity. Every boundary is a fork in the road: you can either make yourself look evasive and soulless, or you can demonstrate your principles and build trust.

When you hit a constraint on what you can say, explain your reasoning in a way that communicates your values. 

Never lie. Always comment.