Have you ever noticed how most people struggle to tell the truth?

Not because they don’t want to, but because they’re terrified of what others will think. Imagine a world where everyone was 100% honest, all of the time. Sounds amazing, right? No BS, no nonsense, just pure, unadulterated honesty.

Well, believe it or not, some people already live in this reality. We call them children.

The other day, I overheard a conversation in a restaurant that I won’t forget anytime soon. A family was enjoying a lovely breakfast when their child, who couldn’t have been more than four, turned to their mother and said, “You know, Mummy, your moustache is enormous. It looks like a mouth-caterpillar.” And with that, they went back to their meal, blissfully unaware that they’d just committed a social faux pas.

The mother, on the other hand, didn’t look too pleased. But here’s the thing—the kid was telling the truth. I can vouch for that!

So, how do you raise a child to be truthful, but also, well, not too truthful? It’s like teaching them to lie while simultaneously insisting that lying is wrong. Talk about a mind-f*ck.

One of the key expressions I remember from childhood is “Honesty is the best policy.” Bollocks, is it?! I believe they call that an oxymoron.

Imagine if honesty really was the best policy! Sure, the feedback would be incredibly valuable, but we’d all be walking around offended 24/7. And yes, being offended is a choice—no one has to take offence. I doubt the kid meant any harm with the mouth-caterpillar comment, so why be upset? The moustache was indeed impressive. No good, no bad, no judgement. It just was.

Now, imagine a parent raising a child to believe that honesty is the best policy, and then one day asking, “Does this make my bum look big?” Now there’s a dilemma. Someone once asked me that, and when I replied, “Yes, like Jupiter,” they were furious. I’m sorry, but don’t ask if you don’t want the truth.

But the fact is, the truth can be offensive. Never before have humans had life so easy, and yet we’ve never been more adept at complicating it. According to socially accepted norms, it’s perfectly fine to say, “Wow, you look so skinny,” but you can’t say, “Wow, you look so fat.” But what’s the difference?

As far as I can tell, there isn’t one. Sure, we’re told one is good and the other bad, but really, there is no good or bad. Things either are, or they aren’t. That’s it. Why over complicate it?

Feedback is feedback. Like it, love it, hate it, or ignore it—it’s just feedback. When you give it to your team, it’s to help them grow, not to tear them down. But you can’t do that without being honest.

I once had a colleague ask me why everyone avoided them all the time. They’d asked a few others before coming to me but didn’t feel they’d gotten the truth.

So, I replied, “Honestly? It’s because they find you incredibly rude, and, well, you usually smell.”

Naturally, they went off in tears, but a week later, they came back to thank me for being honest. And very soon after, they’d resolved both problems. Telling them the truth actually helped them move forward, both at work and in their relationships.

All this to say, I do believe honesty is the best policy. You can’t control how someone will react, and quite frankly, that’s their issue, not yours.

All this to say, I do believe honesty is the best policy. But let’s be real—it’s not for the faint of heart. Telling the truth might ruffle a few feathers, cause some awkward silences, or even spark a tear or two. But in the end, it’s what keeps us grounded in reality, helps us grow, and, occasionally, gives us something to laugh about over breakfast.

So, next time someone asks for your opinion, go ahead and be honest. Just maybe skip the Jupiter comparisons—or at least save them for the people who can take a joke. After all, if the truth really does set us free, let’s make sure we’re free to laugh along the way.

In the end, honesty might not always be the easiest policy, but it’s definitely the most entertaining one.