Say the truth, but..

There's an old anecdote about Birbal. An astrologer (how much ever I hate their breed, its relevant to this post) was once at a rich man's home, predicting his future. All was fine until a deep furrow appreared on his forehead and he said "Hmm. All your relatives will die before you". He was thrashed and chucked out before you could say "er ?".

Would have made me glad to participate in the thrashing, but anyways, while the guy was lamenting his own fortune, Birbal walked by, and listened to his tale. After a while, with a fake moustache, and a pagadi the astrologer was back at the rich man's home, and was ushered in. This time around, he said "Ah! Great news! You will live longer than your whole family!". By the time he was out, he was laden with jewellery and cash.

While frying my brains in meetings every day, I have realised the importance of saying things nicely. For example, rather than saying "We are sorely lacking on the depth planning and delegation in our execution", I say "In addition to all we are doing, we need to add more depth and delegate better." I have seen it work wonders even with the nastiest of people. Try it sometime. Don't say something's "cheap". Call it "economical" or "value for money". Dont say what you could not do. Talk about what you *did* do.

Ofcourse, take it all with a pinch of salt. Don't say your boss "Is good, and could be better". Just say (s)he sucks, if (s)he really does. And if you are asked "do you really love me?" start chewing gum and act as if you are choking on it..