Faking tends to get a bad rap. We celebrate authenticity, praise, and honesty, and preach radical transparency—as if the workplace would magically improve if everyone walked around expressing their unfiltered “true selves.”

But, imagine for a moment what unedited human authenticity would actually look like in a corporate setting: colleagues announcing every irritation, managers confessing every insecurity, leaders sharing every impulsive thought or half-baked opinion. Actually, that doesn’t look overly different from many workplaces!

And yet, most of us are well aware of the dangers of pure self-expression, even if the realization comes mostly from analyzing others rather than ourselves. It’s why (most) people don’t shout at their boss when they’re annoyed, why teams don’t openly critiqu

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