Bluffing Your Way Through Work and Business?

If I were to ask you to write down all the things you do at work or in running your business, you would have a huge list, we all do.

Now split that list in two.

In one list put all the things you feel confident and competent about. 

In the second list, put all the things you sort of bluff your way through. 

Don’t worry, everyone has a list like this, we just hope no one else notices what’s on ours.

A very common problem

Everyone has many jobs and tasks for which they never had any training. This is a such a common and normal situation, we don't really recognise it as the huge problem it actually is.

The strange thing about the business world is that we expect specific levels of education, knowledge and skill in some areas, but in many others it is okay to 'wing it' or 'learn on the job' and we justify to ourselves 'that's just the way things are done'.

In other words, we bluff about the things we are bluffing about.

Why is this such a big problem?

The first problem is that we can easily make costly mistakes because we lack key information and key skills.

The second problem is that the topics we don't feel confident about can take up a disproportionate amount of our time. Because we don't know the best and most efficient way of doing things, we waste a lot of precious time doing them badly.

Now multiple this scenario across everyone in the company. It gets a bit scary to think about, but it does make you realise why things don't go as well or as smoothly as we want or expect them to.

We hand a task to someone, they bluff, we return later to find a problem and wonder "what the hell happened?"

The big hidden problem

But there is another hidden problem with a huge cost, and this is the cost of stress. 

The worry about making a mistake, the fear of the consequences of that mistake and the resulting procrastination can be devastating to both the individual and the company.

These tasks and this stress then distracts us from other important issues we should be dealing with.

The cost of bluffing?

If we are being honest, sometimes bluffing does not matter. Somethings we can get away with and it has no real impact or cost to the business. Somethings are not important enough for us to explore deeper.

But some things are very dangerous to bluff over. 

I'm into training and developing people, especially managers and leaders. What never ceases to astonish me is that so many people are given these very responsible roles without being trained to do them.

How many managers have never had any management training? What about leadership training? I would love to know the percentage. I would think it's scarily low and then we wonder why so many people struggle and get criticised so much.

Then the next questions for those whom have received training are, how good was it and how long ago was it? Did it really equip them for the role, and is it still on their mind enough to make them examine and improve their performance on a regular basis?

It's like driving a car. We take lessons for a period of time, we pass a test and most never go back for a refresher or a review. Years of driving may give us experience, but would you be confident that you could pass a test right now if I asked you to take one?

Now think about the areas in life where we expect to be re-trained on a regular basis. Many professions have CPD as a requirement to practice. This is done because skills are perishable, things change and it keeps us focussed on good standards. Why is management and leadership, two of the most core roles in business not thought of in the same way?

Even if you have a natural tendency to be a manager, good training will make you better.

A good manager brings out of the best in many others. A good manger stops problems from occurring. A good manager makes things run smoothly to allow tasks and processes to be as efficient and profitable as possible. They are responsible for hitting goals and targets.

We all know the value of a good manager, but why then are so many people promoted to managerial level and are not given the knowledge or skills to make them truly effective when their performance is so important?

Being good at your work does not mean you will be good as a manger. We all know this, this is not new thinking. How many rising stars get promoted and are told "we think you are brilliant, to help you in your new role we are going to train you to make sure you will be brilliant in this one too"? Not many I think.

Just think about this scenario in another context. A promising young doctor is chosen to be a surgeon because they have real potential. Imagine if they were promoted to junior surgeon level and sent straight into the operating theatre and told:

1. "Work it out as you go along"

2. "We will put you on a training course the next time we run one"

3. Nothing - they are just left to get on with it

We would not accept this, we would think it crazy and dangerous but in business it happens all of the time.

It happens in business development too. How many people are trying to bring in critical income by presenting products to potential customers but have never had any sales, or presenting skills training? If the opportunity is so important and valuable, why leave it to chance? It is not only sales people who sell.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box now.

So why do we bluff when we could solve this problem?

Why do we bluff rather than own up and say we are out of our depth? If we are all bluffing over something, aren’t we all in the same situation?

The first answer is that we haven’t yet realised we have been bluffing. As I said, this is such a common problem we just fail to recognise it as one that should and could be dealt with. It's just normal.

The second common reason is that we are busy. Training has the reputation of being time consuming. Where will we find the time while we are dealing with other important and pressing matters? So the circle keeps going around and around.

But the biggest reason by far is that we don't want to damage our reputation by admitting that we need help. 

And the more experienced and higher up the hierarchy we get, the harder it can be to admit our weakness, even when everyone already knows them.

The solution comes in two parts. Firstly be honest about the things you bluff over and secondly be confident enough to act on it. It's okay, you are human, no one knows everything. Don't let pride get in the way of results.

It's easier than you think

Aim to be better, not the best. Being competent is enough in most activities. Gaining the key skills in any topic will give you an immediate return on investment and relieve you of a lot of stress and problems.

A small amount of learning can give significant results very quickly.

Then you will have more time for the key tasks that you are the really skilled in.

Time to stop the bluffing?

We all bluff from time to time, but when we honestly ask ourselves how much this is costing us and the business we will start to focus on doing something about it.

Training and development has a cost to it but not doing it has a bigger one. It's just that the cost of training is upfront and obvious while the cost to not doing it is more hidden.

Stephen Bates

If you would like advice on your own training or for that of your company, then please schedule a Discovery Call here.

He is the creator of the Management Accelerator management and leadership training, the Alpha Programme for executives and the Business Bites training platform.

CertainChange.co.uk