I once had a co-worker, let's call this person Pat, who certain acrimonious people in the office referred to as "The Parrot". Pat received the moniker by tending to nod her head and agree with people concerning topics she did not have a high comfort level with. In other words, Pat would agree or disagree on these topics purely based on the general consensus. You might say that Pat's mimicking essentially meant Pat lied to disguise a lack of knowledge on the given topic. You would likely be right. How terrible - what an unethical way to conduct yourself, right? Possibly, however, Pat is not alone in her missteps at navigating office culture and politics. According to Christopher Bonanos' article The Lies We Tell at Work, Pat is part of the majority who lie in the workplace. Some of those lies have darker motives and, as usually is the case, result in the loss of gainful employment for the deceitful.
The better news is that most of the workplace tall tales fall more into the "light' lies category. These tend to be in the interest of getting work done and avoiding conflict - so, don't feel too bad. If you decide not to give an honest opinion when a co-worker asks if you like her new haircut it's because telling her the new do makes her look like a standard poodle is not important enough to disrupt office harmony.
What you need to look out for, states psychology professor and The Liar in Your Life author Robert Feldman, "the greater the deception, the more workplace culture is likely a factor". In other words, employees easily pick up on what is and is not acceptable in any organization. It's good practice to do a bit of a culture check once in a while - survey your employees and "walk and talk" the floor. Listen to what they are saying and observe what they are doing.
In the end certain workplace lies are okay - protecting company secrets (e.g. "the secret formula") because it provides your company a market advantage, fostering interpersonal relationships ("that lunch you've brought from home smells great"), or in cases where you promise less then deliver more.
