Tact.

Proverbs 25:11 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."   In my experience, people tend to think of tact as an excuse to lie. They think they are just being tactful if they tell you what you want to hear. Some are clever enough to say things that align with the truth, but can still be misinterpreted by the listener to mean what they want to hear. That is still a lie. When you know that the listener is getting the wrong message then you are still lying!   A better definition of tact is "a word fitly spoken." I need to confess that I had to re-read this favorite scripture before writing this because my memory of the verse had become skewed. I seemed to remember it saying something about timing. Timing is a very important point here. A word fitly spoken is a word which is true, spoken in love (kindness) and at the right moment.   An example of this from my own experiences occurred while I was in the Air Force. This is another story from Patrick A.F.B. Working as a 99105 in the Hydroacustic shop for AFTAC, I had to maintain a daily station log as part of my duties. These logs were written on a typewriter and contained information about the status of our equipment and the reason behind any noted changes.   On arrival to work one evening, the dayshift person approached me with a suggestion. He had had an entry close out which had been carried forward from previous days. Our standard operating procedure was to type all these entries in a block at the top of the new days log. The problem, he discovered, was that this left him no room to add any new information about why the entry was being closed after weeks of carrying it forward every day. So his suggestion was simple and made sense, leave one blank line between carried forward entries.   Working the swing shift meant that midnight (Grenache Mean Time) occurred on our shift and we had the duty of starting the new days logs. As suggested I left a space between entries. Even as I did so, I knew it was a departure from the norm and that it would be questioned. I went home thinking about how to respond to anyone who might have a problem with me leaving some blank space on the log. There were no specific regulations about whether or not to leave a blank line, just our standard operating procedure.   The next day, I arrived work and took my position. Our tasks rotated nightly so I was not assigned to the same position. Brett took the post I had had the night before. As soon as the day shift crew was out the door, Brett stormed up to me and shoved the log I had created under my nose. Brett had more rank than I did and had several years more experience in Hydroacustics than I did. He went off on me like a drill sergeant going off on a new recruit. I was in deep trouble.   Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Cluade, our supervisor, was approaching slowly, stealthfully bent over so as to not attract attention. He latter confessed to me that all he was concerned about was the rank and years of experience we had, he was not giving any real thought to the merits of the 'conversation' at all. He was prepared to step in and rule with Brett. Everyone else in the room had stopped working to see how this would all turn out.   Brett finally wound up his tirade over the log with a question like, "so why did you leave spaces?" I had my answer ready. "Brett," I said, "I'm sorry. I don't do designer logs!"   It was the word fitly spoken. Brett's jaw clamped shut as his brain churned for a come-back that would not arrive. Claude turned on his heal and burst out in laughter. Peals of laughter were sounding from around the room. Brett turned around and marched back to his corner. Trouble diverted. After a few days time, day shift had made their argument with others on my shift and leaving a blank line became the new standard operating procedure.   My response to Brett that day is an example of tact because it was a kind word (being neither a defense of my action nor an attack against his) it was well timed, everyone in the room was listening and I had just been given the floor, and because it was true. It was true in the sense that arguing over whether or not to leave a space was very petty. The point of the log was to have the information recorded and anything else of a stylistic concern was like an attempt to produce 'designer logs.'

-Dan.