The Five Most Common Lies in Business
An old article from 1997 the start of the dot.com bust, but Oh So True, and still is today.
Found here on Fast Company.
"There are as many lies in business as there are people in business."
Lie: "People are our most important asset."
Truth: "People are our most worrisome and unpredictable asset. Our most important assets are really our financial assets."
B.S. Detector: This may be the leading lie of our times. "When management starts talking about how important people are," LaFontaine says, "you can bet there is going to be an unpopular human resources decision coming soon."
People are replaceable. It’s often painful, but they are. Sure you can lose time, and knowledge, but everyone can be replaced. The minute you think they can’t be, you have a whole other set of issues.
I applaud companies to take this to heart. But nothing lasts forever. Anything given in good faith becomes an entitlement in a short amount of time, and it takes a purging to reset expectations.
Lie: "This was a rational decision."
Truth: "I wanted to do this."
B.S. Detector: People "want what they want just because they want it," says LaFontaine.
While this can certainly be a lie and often is, you can’t always label this one this way. There are too many variables. Too often those that label this statement as such simply don’t have the data to support it.
Certainly, there are those managers who “want to do this”, and if their folks don’t have the authority to question the decision and get back up for it then there again are other issues at play.
Lie: "We judge people by their performance."
Truth: "I judge your performance based on how much I like you."
B.S. Detector: "Why do most people who keep their jobs keep them?" LaFontaine asks. "Because the people they work for like them. And you get fired when the people you work for don't like you anymore.
This is unfortunately too true. Because this is true, and people want to be liked, they become “Yes Men (or women). As such, they do what ever is asked and that’s not always the right answer. It appears they are performing because they are doing what is asked but what’s being asked is often the wrong thing and they know it.
But rather than do what’s right, they do what will help them be liked. They aren’t going to make waves, or rock the boat. They fear not being liked, because that’s what helps them keep their job.
There’s a local company now going through this. Everyone is scared to death to speak up and help improve the performance of the company, for fear they won’t be liked. The last person that did was fired.
Folks that are leaving aren’t giving feedback as to why. They don’t want to burn bridges either.
Lie: "This is business, it isn't personal."
Truth: "Everything's personal."
B.S. Detector: "As people, we get mad at each other," says LaFontaine. "Attempts to avoid it are cowardly. So get mad. Then get over it and move on." LaFontaine believes that any disagreement can be handled with an honest conversation.
See above.
Everything IS personal. We are people. We have feelings and they get hurt. Get over it because it’s also a business. You owe it to the business to be personally involved. If you aren’t then you are in the wrong job.
Lie: "The customer comes first."
Truth: "I come first."
B.S. Detector: "More often than not, 'the customer' is an abstraction," LaFontaine warns. "People take care of customers when it benefits them and ignore customers when they can get away with it. Nobody says 'I come first,' which is what's usually going on."
Amen.
Technorati Tags: Five Business Lies, Five Business Truths
Written by datapoohbah on May 4th, 2006 with
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