Recently I received an invitation to a training suggesting that I should learn to detect if someone else is lying.

I can’t say anything about the content or the mindset of those offering the training. However, I found myself wondering about the worldview such training showed and invited others to take on. I also wondered what audience they were targeting.

There are many nuances to this, and by simplifying the description I’ll find myself doing what I perceive as a worldview, splitting the world into good and bad. It might not be the intention, and it might not reflect the training. It’s not my intention either to disqualify the training or to disqualify the need for such training. However, it might also be useful to reflect on the business context and ask oneself when it is a useful approach.

In a team, where the desire is to establish open conversations and a sense of safety to share as well as question information, there is no space to assume lies. Without denying the possibility that lies will appear, what is relevant in such a team is to learn to create understanding and assume misunderstanding.

This cannot happen without gaining as much clarity as possible on what it is one is trying to explain or to learn, as well as to share what one is seeking to figure out.

And what it avoids, is judging oneself for not knowing.