Don’t ruin your integrity by telling lies for your organization.
You don’t have to.
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There is a great deal of middle ground between parroting lies on behalf of your large, dysfunctional organization and actively clashing with the leadership.
Just don’t participate.
A friend and I were musing that our gym (a large, multi-site organization) was once again re-doing the basketball court something like 6 months after they had already re-done it.
I approached the staff. I’m a member, I have concerns if they’re re-doing expensive jobs shortly after they have already been done. Except, the employee at the front desk categorically denied that it had been done recently.
I didn’t believe her. I was there. And, my friend knew it had been done recently as well.
The employee lost credibility with me instantly.
Another employee came up and corrected the first one. He skillfully avoided engaging in details regarding why it was being re-done. It was clear that the re-do was a sore subject.
That employee retained his credibility, although I clearly knew he didn’t want to go into details.
And that’s the difference.
The second employee knew that he couldn’t tell me the whole truth. That’s OK. But he didn’t lie.
Want to keep your personal integrity intact while keeping your job at an organization where the decisions aren’t so fantastic? Start with the basics. If you can’t say something, ok. Great. Don’t say it. Say what you can. Refer folks to someone else. Anything but parrot the lies.
Telling lies on behalf of your organization might make those above you happy in the short term. But now they know you’re a liar. And so does everyone else; hardly a great long term move.