Qualities of Truth
In Sunday school this author learned that any communication with the intent to deceive is a lie, whether that communication is verbal or non-verbal, by commission or omission. The truth is the Truth – there is not equivocation, but experience shows that determining Truth may not be that simple. What this author perceives as beautiful, lovely, or ugly, others may identify as the opposite. When the author communicates to another that their work is well-done and compliments them, does he become a liar because someone else holds a differing opinion? There is one Truth, but do any of us know what that truth truly is?
Albert Carr (1968) would find that Mr. Frey pursued a brilliant marketing strategy to get his book published, after all business is business, marketing is marketing, and it’s all in how the game is played. While attempting to market his book as fiction more than a dozen publishers rejected Frey’s manuscript. His agent, whose job it is to get the book published, suggested a viable alternative, suggesting that he label it a memoir. Frey had a great product – this is supported by the fact that more than 3.5 million readers purchased the book, and read it. Oprah apparently couldn’t put it down. My bride found it to be riveting. How does one market this product so that it can positively receive a viewing by a publisher, in order to get it into the hands of its audience? Is this any different from the “new and breaking news” that is touted on television stations, even though the reported event is neither news, or new, and has been breaking for several hours? If a book attracts our attention sufficiently to compel us to buy it, and then read it, is that not an indictment that it is worthy of our attention?
On the other hand, there is no question that Frey intended to deceive his audience, perhaps not in labeling his story as a memoir, but in the embellishments that he ultimately confessed was in the narrative. One can perceive an experience differently from others in the same situation, and although each observer may detail different “facts” regarding it, all could potentially be telling the truth, from their individual perspective. When one embellishes, one is cognizant that exaggeration is being used. When one embellishes the truth, one is lying. The lie brought Mr. Frey national renown and a best-seller that was in the top-10 books in both 2003 and 2005, ultimately selling over 3.5 million copies. The lie also cost him and his publisher $2.35 million. From a business perspective it appears that Frey won this round.
Short- and Long-Term Perspectives in Decision Making
A prudent person would so conduct their lives that each decision they made was consonant with the results they desired over the long haul. Actions have consequences, and only maturity and wisdom understands this. Looking for short-term gain with no thought for the long-term is the philosophy of the teenager, the con man, the thief, the gambler, the drug-addict – it is not the domain of the wise, the prudent, or the ethical.
This author finds it hard to understand why people were so upset with the fabrications that Mr. Frey reluctantly admitted to in his book “A Million Little Pieces”. For example, another author, Mary Karr, was so affronted by the revelation that Frey made up parts of his book, she exclaimed, “I think this calls into question every aspect of this guy” (Peyser, 2006). If anyone would have read the book they would have understood that he was a recovered addict and all round tough guy, who surmounted great odds to become clean. He told the reader exactly who he was, or, at least who he wanted people to think he was, in the book. He detailed action after action where he succumbed to the thrill, or pull, of the short-term at the expense of the long-term. Does the reader, or the general public, expect any different behaviors in his description of them? Just because Mr. Frey had faced down some of his demons, did the public expect that he’d faced them all down? When faced with the prospect of getting his book published, a book in which he’d poured his heart and soul, versus just letting it collect dust on a shelf, he acted in the way he was accustomed to; to get what he wanted in the now, and deal with the consequences later.
Every ethical decision comes with short- and long-term consequences. For Carr (1968), the consequences come down to a cost-benefit ratio if one is in the arena of business; does the long-term benefit outweigh the long-term cost? Carr does not have the personality of a drug addict, where all that matters is the short-term. He states clearly that “all sensible businessmen prefer to be truthful” (p. 152), but to him this is not because of ethics, it is because it is the best policy for establishing and maintaining long-term business relationships. He also acknowledges that to foster such relationships, businessmen “seldom feel inclined to tell the whole truth” (p. 152, italics in the original).
For this author the decisions that he most regrets in his own life stem from not considering the long-term view. Those decisions were based on immediate gratification, or some perceived short-term victory, and this short-sightedness cost long-term benefit, and in some cases, life-long detour. At some point one has to face the consequences of the decisions one has made. This author has determined that most decisions and conduct should reflect ones unifying principles, with an eye on long-term consequences, for in this is prudence and wisdom.
Frey vs. the False Resume
There are several parallels between the scandal surrounding James Frey’s “A Million Little Pieces” and the stories of resume puffing cited in “Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings”. Each story begins with a perceived problem, and a desire to make it seem fixed by using a short-term exigency, and ends with getting caught.
With Frey, the choice was between not having his work published, and getting it published, all it cost was two words: “a memoir”. The problem is that the common meaning of those two words was not true in the context in which they were used. The current version of “A Million Little Pieces” contains a note to the reader in which Frey rationalizes his adoption of a memoir motif because he wrote “about the person I created in my mind to help me cope, and not the person who went through the experience.” To this author, this sounds like continued puffing of his resume – he didn’t really lie, he used literary license – which in writing is perfectly acceptable - if the book purports to be fiction.
The purpose of a resume is to get the interview, or apparently in modern business as an excuse for terminating an employee. Marilee Jones applied for an entry-level position and was hired. In a resume we present the best face for our experience and education. According to studies on the subject more than one-third of people who write resumes engage in embellishment (Jennings, 2009, p. 36). If this is truly how the game of business is played Carr (1968) would argue that it is the results that count. If it gets one the job, what does it matter if it is not exactly true? One of the basic tenets of ethics is the principle of fairness, of not taking an unfair advantage. By puffing a resume one is distinguishing oneself from others by saying that one has experience or education that one does not truly have. It may be true that one has made mistakes in judgment, or worse – and that these mistakes may put one at a disadvantage in relation to one’s peers. This disadvantage does not give us the right to claim that the system is unfair when we were the ones that had the lapse, and it is now our challenge to face the consequences. A resume needs to be the finest piece of marketing that an individual should be able to craft to present that individual in the best possible light, but there is a difference between selling, and lying.
What is a shame, is that Frey’s work is worthy of being published, and being read. The vast majority of his readers did not rush to the store to return the book for a refund because they learned that it was not true. This is similar to many who may embellish their resumes. They have worthy traits, and experience, and should get an interview, and should not have to lie in order to get one. In the long run is it better to lie up front in order to get the book published, or to get the job, and have to worry each day whether or not one will get caught, or is it better to not lie at all? In the world we live in there are thousands of authors with thousands of manuscripts vying for sufficient attention and traction to make it into print – only a select few will make the cut. In the world of employment, with unemployment at high levels, there may be hundreds or thousands of applicants that are competing for a single job. James Frey and Marilee Jones, by lying, cut to the front of the line, claiming experience or credentials that they did not have. Even though their following service indicated that they were worthy of the trust placed in them, they took unfair advantage of others who were not willing to make the same unethical decisions to win the game. Should they be punished for cheating? Absolutely, and they were. But what of the faceless individuals who would have benefited had Frey and Jones not cheated – they remain faceless because they weren’t willing to play the game to win.
The scandal for Mr. Frey was public, his excoriation widely viewed, and there were legal ramifications to his lack of truthfulness, but ultimately he still got the renown that he desired, and profited in terms of money, and he continues to have a contract with a publisher. This author does not know what happened to Ms. Jones after she resigned as the dean of admissions for MIT, but she did profit from 28 years of employment, and gained the experience of working through the ranks of that fine institution, all of which are actual experience that she can now claim. In both cases, it seems that cheating was rewarded, in spite of the embarrassment of discovery.
Oprah’s Experience
Oprah’s original response to the revelations that Frey had exaggerated his experiences in the book was to denigrate the fact checking mechanism of the publisher, while identifying that “the underlying message of redemption . . . still resonates with me” (Peyser, p. 62). Seventeen days later, Oprah had Frey on her show once more, but this time things were not so supportive because her supporter’s e-mails identified that her apparent lack of concern for the accuracy of his book “had cast a cloud over her judgment” (Associated Press, 2006). She took him to task, interrogating him on many of the episodes that he recounted in the book. Over three years later, Oprah called Frey and apologized to him for “her uncharacteristically harsh attack” that came because of “her own ego feeling betrayed” (Luscombe, 2009, para. 5).
This author believes that Oprah responded according to good business sense, and probably hurt feelings, but did not do so out of a sense of ethics. Her initial support came before the full extent of Frey’s lying was reported, so it made sense to continue to support him and his message. When it appeared to Oprah’s public that she was being soft on lying, and it became apparent to her that this was the case, she went on the attack. One could argue that Oprah’s product is the power of her good name and reputation. From a business standpoint Oprah could not allow her reputation to be impugned, and she took him to task, for the threat he represented. After a long period of reflection, Oprah concluded that she overreacted in her attack, and called to apologize, and ultimately had Frey return to the show for a reconciliation.

References
Carr, A. Z. (1968). Is Business Bluffing Ethical?, Harvard Business Review, 46(1), 143-153. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=5cef0421-4b04-451a-8f04-364f22b3dd6c%40sessionmgr11&vid=2&hid=8
Associated Press (2006, January 27). Frey Admits Lying; Oprah Apologizes to Viewers. Retrieved from http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/11030647/ns/today-books/t/frey-admits-lying-oprah-apologizes-viewers/#
Frey, J. (2003). A Million Little Pieces. New York: Doubleday.
Jennings, M. (2009). Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Luscombe, B. (2009, May 13). World’s Most Shocking Apology: Oprah to James Frey. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1897924,00.html
Peyser, M. (2006, January 23). The Ugly Truth; When James Frey Embellished His Rap Sheet in His Best-Selling Memoir, Did He Cross the Line into Fiction? Newsweek, p. 62. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highbeam.com%2Fdoc%2F1G1-141090449.html&rct=j&q=The%20Ugly%20Truth%3B%20When%20James%20Frey%20Embellished%20His%20Rap%20Sheet%20in%20His%20Best-Selling%20Memoir%2C%20Did%20He%20Cross%20the%20Line%20into%20Fiction&ei=2DGLTomeG6_LsQL85fWsBA&usg=AFQjCNGsQaodHDOQAP3EQmCxiRVG9CW27Q&sig2=iPdhgcdI4jAv2vLGfebCFw&cad=rja