Bromides: Top-Ten Excuses for Bad Management

10. It is inevitable.

The Hand-Of-God excuse is frequently invoked by managers who have elevated their lack of imagination to a strategy. The principle is simple and attractive: If there never were any choices, then no wrong choices can have been made. 

By avoiding any serious consideration of alternatives, the responsibility for a decision can be deflected very effectively .

9. We are in an economic crisis.

The Herbert Hoover excuse holds that in a time of economic crisis, difficult decisions need to be made. Surprisingly, the mere fact that these decisions are difficult can be used against a shield against those who question their wisdom. 

A plan that would be subjected to serious scrutiny in a more benign environment, and might on closer consideration not be the wisest course, can be pushed through in a rush if there is a crisis atmosphere. The sheer urge to do something may even induce people to rummage the dustbin for plans already abandoned and ideas already dropped, and execute them anyway.

Admittedly there are benefits to this as well: A time of crisis can offer opportunities for plans otherwise considered too radical or too risky. But the selection is often made randomly. Beware of politicians declaring "War on X". Excuse them, Lord, for they do not know what they do.
 
8. I am sure we can make it work.

The Voluntarism excuse holds that, no matter how convoluted, impractical, bureaucratic and cumbersome a process is, there are ways to make it work. Which is likely to be true, at some level. Just fill in the paperwork.

The problem with this reasoning is that it is like eating soup with a fork: Given time and persistence, it can be done. But it is not a particularly efficient procedure, and the time and energy spent on it could be used for better purposes. Any competitor with enough wisdom to use a spoon will leave you in the dust.

7. It is policy.

This is the Meaningless excuse. It implies that we do this, because, well, we have decided to do this. Or at least somebody has. At some time. Don't ask who, when, or why.

6. All our competitors do the same.

The Lemming excuse is used surprisingly frequently by companies operating in a notional free-market environment. Of course conforming to the behaviour of the pack fails to ensure a competitive advantage, but on the other hand it requires no initiative and does not entail the risk of falling behind the others. Therefore a bad strategy that was already adopted by the  competitors will often be embraced more eagerly than a good one that was not.

Financial markets are particularly vulnerable to this kind of logic. Common sense may tell one that the best strategy to make money is to buy low and sell high, yet most actors will sell in a bear market and buy in a bull market.

5. It is what we have been told to do.

Although this must have been invoked countless times since the dawn of history, I consider it fair enough to call this the Admiral Markham excuse. Markham was British admiral, who in 1893 was ordered to turn his ship to port, and duly did so, although he knew a collision would inevitably result. HMS Victoria sank in 13 minutes, taking 358 men with her.

As one of the exasperated Sea Lords put it, "Any fool can obey orders!"

4. It is the American / Chinese / French / European practice.

It is appropriate to call this the Syphilis excuse, after the disfiguring, sexually transmitted infection that was called the French disease by the Italians, the Italian disease by the French, the Polish disease by the Russians and the Frankish disease by the Turks.

In any international collaboration or organization, there is a tendency to assume that some completely brain-dead process is part of the national culture of the other parties involved, perhaps even a matter of national pride. From this one can then conclude seamlessly that any effort to change the practice would be wasted. And perhaps even offensive.

Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

3. We need to think positively.

The Bay of Pigs excuse seeks to silence critical voices simply but effectively by encouraging them to fall in, for the sake of group cohesion and a positive team atmosphere. Any dissenters can be accused of not being good team players. (Or, in politics, of being unpatriotic.)

The practice leads to "groupthink", a kind of collective self-hypnosis that protects the members from challenging the status quo or proposing alternatives. Groupthink is dangerous, but easily rationalized by extolling the virtues of conformity.

The excuse earns his name from the disastrous invasion of the Bahia de Cochinos in 1961: Later Kennedy realized that a lack of critical thinking had allowed a doomed plan to move forward, and during the Cuban missile crisis he took great pains to stimulate his advisors to think independently.

2. Our credibility is at stake here.

The Domino Theory excuse holds that any change in direction or admission of error must have devastating consequences for the credibility of the leadership or of the organization. Therefore, it is actually better to continue a policy that has failed, than to try something else.

In practice very few, if any, senior managers are willing to admit to an error of any kind. To avoid this, they find ways to talk up the devastating consequences of admitting failure. It is not difficult to construct hypothetical scenarios involving a cascade of disasters triggered by a loss of confidence.

As Edmund Burke pointed out to the British government during the American Revolution, one's dignity can become a burden, and seriously conflict with one's best interests.

1. This is a large organization.

The Dinosaur excuse takes it for granted that a large organization must be ineffeciently organized. And of course the challenges of a managing an organization increase steeply with its size. But as some large organizations nevertheless continue to exist and flourish, it is evident that solutions for these structural problems can be found: Otherwise they would all have become extinct long ago.

However, the search for solutions is easily inhibited by telling people that they don't stand a chance to see them adopted. And both colleagues and superiors have a motive in doing so, as people who find better management solutions are likely to rise through the ranks.