Research project: Lies, deception, and untruth at work

The aim of this study is to create an understanding for the role of lies, deception, untruth, and similar phenomena in the management and leadership of organizations. The narrative survey is one part of the data collection for the study. The aim of the survey is to gather first-person experiences of lies, deception, and misinformation in narrative form. The project takes a morally agnostic view on lies, deception, and untruth. The aim is to understand their role in organizations, not to judge.

The background of the project is to explore how lies, deception, and untruth are used and experienced in organizations. Lying is often seen as problematic from a moral perspective, yet most of us after some thought recognize that lies, deception, and untruth are part of everyday working life. As individuals, we might encounter this more or less often, and we might both lie and be lied to. This is, however, an area that is underexplored in leadership and management research. In order to explore the topic, this project seeks to create an understanding of what types of experiences people have, and how they express this. It will thereby contribute to theories of management and leadership, bringing in a dimension of organized life that is not often accounted for. The research project’s theoretical background is based on the paper “Sweet little lies? Towards a mendaciology of leadership” published in the journal Leadership (2025), authored by Professor Johan Alvehus (Ph.D.), who is leading this project.