On the topic of lies and managers and Top Management Lies from Creating Passionate Users, More Lies from Management via my buddy Phil, and Guy Kawasaki’s Top 10 Lies of Engineers – I add my own list of Top 10 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell Themselves:

1. “Were concentrating on product development right now, but the marketing plan will come later.”

… then they spend all their money on developing a product and need to go for another round of funding to test market it…

2. “If we get 1% market share worldwide, we will make millionaires.”

… yea right, everyone is going to be a millionaire and if everyone who actually used the 1% analogy actually accomplished it there would be no market left for the rest of us…

3. “All I need is another $50,000 and then I will be able to do the marketing to raise our profile.”

… why wasn’t marketing part of your plan in the first place? What were you thinking?…

4. “I haven’t got any financial projections yet, but once I get the funding I will create a budget.”

… Yo Dude, a budget is not a the same thing as a financial projection. What you don’t know you don’t know is killing your business…

5. “We serve a niche market. All we need is 600 customers to break even.”

… what is the total size of the market? I had an actual client who made that statement to me and upon investigation discovered the entire market was only 400 which meant they would have to sell 100% + 50% of the market, not exactly realistic…

6. “Why can’t I find good people? Why can’t people do what I tell them to do?”

… you are most likely part of the problem and not set proper expectations or provided adequate training…

7. “I am working on closing a large client and with that business I will surpass my break even and be all set for the year.”

… What happens if you loose that large client? If you cannot afford to loose that client you cannot afford to take them on as a customer because it will put you out of business. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket…

8. “I am just too busy to stop and plan, maybe after I get through this month end I will get started.”

…you can always afford to do the right thing. The time you spend planning will easily be made up because it provides clarity and focus…

9. “Yellow Pages is the best type of advertising for my business and brings the most leads.”

… when you ask them what else they do to advertise and promote the business, they often have no other strategy. When you suggest ways to diversify and increase their leads they say “I can’t afford that.” and when you ask them why they say because the Yellow Pages ad costs $1,500/month and that is already more than I can afford. Thanks for playing but that is the wrong answer….

10. “I am just one guy trying to make a living, I cannot do everything.”

…unless you start to delegate you will never own a ‘business’ because it cannot run without you. That is not a business, it is just a job you purchased…

Guy Kawasaki’s #1 lie of engineers would be funny if it wasn’t so true.

1. ‘We’re about to go into beta testing.’ This is a meaningless statement because it doesn’t matter when you go into beta testing–what matters is when you come out of beta testing. (The only hard and fast deadline for coming out of modern-day beta testing is ‘before you run out of money.’)

In the good old days, ‘alpha’ used to mean ‘all features are implemented though not necessarily working properly. ‘Beta’ used to mean ‘there are no more repeatable bugs. Nowadays beta means ‘we’ve gone as long as possible past the shipping date that we promised our investors.’

My co-host and podcast buddy Phil asks the question So what can we do about this? Here is his answer…

So what can we do about this? For starters, admit you have a problem. If your culture is one of bullshit, say so and start fixing the problem. Once you admit you have a problem, maybe, just maybe, you can overcome it.

Second, CARE about the answers why you’re in a culture of bullshit leadership. If you’re the one slinging it, then recognize that and stop it. You’re killing your team, and your own career.

Lastly, you can just stop cold turkey. It won’t hurt you, honest! Just STOP already!

Or you can keep slinging it, and we’ll talk about you here at No Bullshit Leadership. That’ll keep us in business, and entertained for weeks, or at least for a post or 3-?

What do you think? There’s got to be so many other ways, so please share your favorite ways of overcoming the bullshit, or your favorite/least favorite reasons for slinging the bullshit.

Over at Creating Passionate UsersMore Lies from Management my personal favorites are”

“I know you’re working hard now, but we’ll make it up to you later.”

“Riiiiiiiight.”

“Hey, you’re preaching to the choir here. I’m on your side. But upper management just doesn’t get it.”

“You just don’t get it.”

What bullshit, lies, and untruths do you hear?

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