I bumped into someone this week who used to work with Professor Tim Brighouse.

Tim Brighouse has been a major influence upon how I attempt to go about my own work – so it was great to meet someone (a service Director in Birmingham City Council) who worked very closely with the man himself.

I asked the person what made Tim Brighouse special – the answer – he said – was easy – “honesty”.

“Tim never avoided the truth” – even if that truth was very uncomfortable. 

On reflection I think I sometimes avoid the truth – particularly when attempting to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. The problem with this strategy is that it’s more than likely that you will have to return to that truth at a later date – but are compromised by the fact that you didn’t tackle the matter at the outset.

In the next year I’m going to try to “never avoid the truth” – I wonder how things will go??