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On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I went to the store for some items, accompanied by my daughter. Up here in BC there are so many food products with absolutely no preservatives that you have to shop rather more often than in the US. That’s hardly a negative problem – reminds me of my childhood, actually – but with the stores closed on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day (December 26) there are always some last-minute things that come up. On the way home my spouse called (about the only time I leave my cell phone on – when the family is separated) with the need for one last item: paper towels.

We diverted to another store – not as popular and with nothing like the same quality of wares, but much easier parking! – and I sent my daughter in with the smallest bill I had in my pocket: $50. I don’t think she has had a banknote bigger than a 20 in her hands before so I urged her not to flash it around and to ensure “you get the right change.” On her return to the car I put the $45 plus change into the center console.

Later on, after 6 PM, when all the stores are closed to allow their staff to actually enjoy the holiday, I found that the $45 was actually $65. On the 27th I went back to the store, explained the error to the duty manager, and felt really good about a young cashier being saved the hit of a $20 deduction from her wages.

Some years ago I went on a trip to a country where cash was the only option outside the largest cities. I found, on returning to my office, that the teller had given me $2000 too much. I asked our CFO to call the bank on the next working day (I was on a plane) to ask them whether they had an error at the close of business. (Banks and others always think that you are going to claim that you were shortchanged when you ask that question, and I had a friend who once received GBP 5000 too much at a bank. The manager claimed there was no balance error that day. An investigation by his bosses uncovered that he was fiddling the branch books, milking accounts that had gone dead.) My bank responded that they had a shortage and confirmed the amount, the money was returned. And, when I got back, I was treated to a free lunch by the manager and her teller, who had been on the job just one day.

I think of these incidents as basic lessons in honesty – something that, at times, seems to be in shorter and shorter supply.

It isn’t always about cash, although I have had an awful lot of fake expense reports cross my desk over the years. One of my sales guys, for example, seemed to feel that there should be no blank entries on a report – fill every square!

But in the business of doing business I am coming across more and more dishonesty: nonsense claims in news releases; on the really doubtful edge with data sheet numbers; outright lies in the sales cycle; product release dates further out than a typical design cycle.

But what really galls me is the dishonesty of incompetence.

You probably don’t need me to give you examples; they’re all around you, right? People who manage to get through day after day without actually achieving. Not because they are lazy, per se, but because they are out of their depth. Whether it is a designer whose core competence is sound but is expected to do much more; the agency new to our industry that is expected to make recommendations to the client; the manager who got there because he couldn’t perform his previous job (“promoted out of the way” we used to say in the BBC); and even, unfortunately still, the person of whom a male co-worker said (in a true example), “Well, she doesn’t hurt my eyes first thing in the morning.”

Taking on a challenge is necessary for any of us to develop. But the challenge must be a measured one; an honest one. I’m not about to announce to the world that I am going to climb Everest this coming summer when I have never climbed higher than the top of a 500 ft mast (and that more than a few years ago). To say so would not only be dishonest with others, but also with myself. If the top of Everest really was my lifetime dream destination, I would study for it, train with those who already can do it, work up from easy climbs through measurably more difficult ones – all, hopefully, without triggering cardiac arrest.

Honesty. About what we can do today, can potentially achieve tomorrow…but also about where we know our limitations to be.

In one or two companies in our industry, certain designers reach a point in their careers with that company at which they’re cut loose to do, essentially, whatever they want; whether or not they come in to work or don’t, their salaries and benefits and bonuses are guaranteed because of the successes they’ve already achieved for the employer and the dollars that continue to accrue from their work.

At one of these companies, a certain arrogance has set in among this group. But, at another, these uber-designers do still come in to work. They mentor the next tiers of designers, passing on their insights and tricks, sharing their expertise. Those younger designers are honest enough to know that they have more to learn, and they listen.

It goes without saying that such a company and its people will be more successful and  more sound than the one that tries to climb Everest “cold turkey.”

So, let’s make it a goal for 2008 to be more realistic, more measured, more practical, more competent; essentially, to be more honest.

Let’s not make it a resolution, though. I never live up to those. Honestly.