His advice boils down to a few simple but transformational ways of approaching grant writing. Almost anyone can do these things. But if you don't do them, you're likely to struggle with grants for your entire career.
Science should not be about censorship or rigorous adherence to a given ideology. Instead, science is at its best when it consists of open exploration and testing of new ideas.
Starting in January, NIH is implementing a shortened grant format for all of the main grant types, including R01's and K awards. This came from very long and involved deliberation with many members of the research community, spanning years.
I think people use dishonesty because they feel they are cornered and think they have no other way "out." But there is always another way out, it is just a matter of figuring out what that is. Sometimes that takes a while to figure out. It isn't necessarily easy. But it is always the better way in the long run.