Your Point of View

Open, transparent and saying exactly what you think is what I prefer but it also can create problems if you have a boss or spouse who isn't open and able to handle the bluntness that comes with this approach.

i would rather know right where I stand than try to sort through the diplomatic/politically correct gobbledy-gook! But then I have been known to have not just one but both feet in my mouth at the same time!

I try to be diplomatically transparent, myself.

here's a funny and poignant movie called 'equal opportunity' that played at the boulder asian film festival last year about your topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swhmZ7rnX8o

if you're planning to say exactly what you think - do remember to think before you blurt something out.

Open and transparent works for me. Ya get what ya get! Right from the beginning.

Better to be open and transparent as if you try to be politically correct or diplomatic, some people will just not get it.

Open, transparent, and say what I think is pretty much how I do it. BUT, in all honesty it's cost me a great deal over the years. My "transparency" and ability/willingness to say exactly what I think has hurt feelings, pissed off the cops, got me into trouble, upset my wife, and lost me friends on ocassion, etc. I had to learn "tact," which I'm learning, but now have to remember to "use it." In this respect, I'm a work in progress.

Like my wife tries to tell me: "It IS okay to tell someone to 'go to hell.' You just need to do it in a way that gets them excited about packing and makes them look forward to the trip."

Many people are too dense to understand what you are saying if you are PC and polite.

I'll go with Plutarch and call "a fig a fig, and a trough a trough."