Many organizations are drowning in a flood of corporate bullshit, and this is particularly true of organizations in trouble, whose managers tend to make up stuff on the fly and with little regard for future consequences. Bullshitting and lying are not synonymous. While the liar knows the truth and wittingly bends it to suit their purpose, the bullshitter simply does not care about the truth. Managers can actually do something about organizational bullshit, and this Executive Digest provides a sequential framework that enables them to do so. They can comprehend it, they can recognize it for what it is, they can act against it, and they can take steps to prevent it from happening in the future. While it is unlikely that any organization will ever be able to rid itself of bullshit entirely, this article argues that by taking these steps, astute managers can work toward stemming its flood.

1. CONFRONTING
INDIFFERENCE TOWARDS
TRUTH
#Luiss.MasterClass
Professor Ian P. McCarthy

4. Frankfurt (2005) Bullshitting is not the
same as lying
• Lying is an act concerned with
the truth and involves trying to
subvert it.
• A liar must know the truth to be
able to lie.
• Bullshitting is done with no
concern for the truth.
• A bullshitter has no regard for,
and is not constrained by, truth.
• A bullshitter’s bullshit can
sometimes turn out to be
correct.

5. What is bullshit?
Example statement: An organizational leader informs
employees that a proposed strategic change will not result in
job losses.
Lying
The leader knows there will be
job losses but hides or
manipulates the truth. The
leader is lying by stating
known untruths.
Bullshitting
The leader has no idea
whether there will be job
losses or not, and is thus not
hiding or concealing the truth.
The leader is bullshitting
because they neither know
nor care whether their
statements are true or false.

6. What is bullshit?
• In 2018, the U.S. President
erroneously told the Canadian
Prime Minister that the United
States had a trade deficit with
Canada.
• The U.S. President later
admitted that he had no idea if
there was a deficit.
• This freedom from truth means
that leaders can say whatever it
takes to further their agenda

7. Bullshit antecedents and receptivity
• Petrocelli (2018) - people bullshit more when:
– the social expectations to have an opinion
are high.
– they expect to get away with it.
– their audience is un-knowledgeable.
• Pennycook, et al. (2015):
– Receptivity to bullshit: lower cognitive
skills, and paranormal beliefs, and ‘an
uncritically open mind’.
– Bullshit sensitivity: analytic cognitive
mindset, critical thinking and scepticism.

8. Call my bluff

9. The
C.R.A.P.
Framework

10. 1. Don’t confuse bullshit with lying and
others forms of misrepresentation.
2. Don’t forget that bullshit is often
appealing and sometimes turns out to
be true.
3. Don’t forget that people knowingly
and unknowingly bullshit.
4. Don't listen and read with an
uncritically open mind.
5. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”
and “I don’t understand”.
Five don’ts

11. 1. Do call for or question logic and evidence, while
rejecting anecdotes.
2. Do be alert to inconsistencies, biases and vague
and jargon-filled statements.
3. Do proportion your belief to the availability of
evidence and its veracity.
4. Do prohibit excessive jargon, statistical trickery,
and pointless meetings and committees.
5. Do understand and adjust how colleagues ‘act’
toward bullshit.
Five dos

12. Thank you