Its no secret that I loved Dr. Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational that I reviewed here. I’ve also been interested in theft and dishonesty as a manager. I even wrote a five-part series on theft and theft prevention; the first part of which you can find here. So a book that focuses on dishonesty by Dr. Ariely should be right up my alley – and I was not disappointed.

While The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty:  How We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves; covers similar ground, and even features some of the same studies as Predictably Irrational, to write it off as a retread would be a huge mistake. What this this book focuses on is the balance between honesty and dishonesty. Most people hold a belief that dishonesty and theft are a mixture of temptation and a cost benefit analysis with regards to getting caught. What Dr. Ariely shows, however, with a mixture of empirical data and real-world examples, is that things are a lot more complicated.

Our own self-image plays a large part in instances of dishonesty and not in the way you may first believe. While people do weigh whether they are going to be caught before being dishonest, how we weigh that risk, and whether to act on it can often be influenced, by simple measures. Placing a space for a signature at the top of a form, for example, can significantly increase the truthfulness in the answers on that form compared to just having a signature line at the bottom that is filed out once the form has been completed. Likewise having students reminded of a school’s honesty oath dramatically reduces cheating on an exam, even when there are no other preventative measures, and the school does not actually have a honesty oath. The mere act of reminding someone that something is wrong can be enough to prevent dishonesty – even if just for a short while.

What seems to happen here is that we have our own self-image of how honest we are. However, we can over tax our sense of honesty, which then makes us more susceptible to temptation. The longer we resist temptation, the easier it is to justify be dishonest to ourselves. We “fudge” the truth depending on circumstance. But we can temporarily change our circumstances with simple reminders or independent oversight.

Of even more interest to companies, is the fact that dishonesty can be contagious and feeds into group dynamics therefore feeding into a company’s culture. The need to belong to the group can be enough to tempt us into being dishonest. One bad apple can spoil the entire barrel it would seem as the norms of group culture shift the individual’s perception of honesty. Likewise, decision fatigue can also impact our honest self-image and thereby lead to actions of questionable judgment.

This is a fascinating book with significant implications for managers and owners of companies. Told with wit, humor, and devastating evidence, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty changes our understanding of ourselves and more importantly those around us. By understanding dishonesty, and what gives rise to it, we can better understand what we can do to prevent it happening in the first place.