Page 20 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

Difficulty Introduction 11

BAD LIES
Hard crime
Fraud
Drugs
Malingering
Meetings
Social

GOOD LIES

Figure 1.1 Tough and easy interviews: this figure shows the hierarchy of interviews, and that those
where the potential punishment is greatest (and the level of remorse insignificant) are usually the most
difficult to resolve. But there are exceptions.

There are also lots of diagrams, ‘word bites’ and illustrations. Again, some people will like
them and others won’t. But most people remember messages in diagrams better than they do
plain text, simply because their brains are hardwired to do so. If you like diagrams and other
stuff, great. If not, don’t worry. It probably means that your primary channel of communica-
tion is other than visual and this is not really a problem, unless you plan to become a creative
accountant or fashion designer.

TABLES

There are many tables in this book, which summarize what would otherwise be massive
amounts of text. The problem with tables is that people skip over them, blank out and glaze
over and thus miss important messages. We strongly recommend that you take a few minutes
to read each table carefully and use a highlighter pen to mark those bits you think could be
important to you.

You can learn a lot from tables, if you read them

ADAPTING THE TECHNIQUES

The techniques in Chapters 5 to 8 are directed at the most difficult interviews of all, where
serious dishonesty is suspected. These are referred to as ‘tough interviews’. However, the ap-
proaches suggested may be adapted for any meeting or interview in which it is important to
get the truth from people opposed to telling it.

Being able to recognize lies and to deal effectively with them is a really valuable tool,
which will: