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 toward truth:
Dealing with workplace bullshit
Seminar at Goodman School of Business
Brock University
13th March 2019
Ian P. McCarthy
Simon Fraser University,
Vancouver, Canada
LUISS
Rome, Italy

2. The authors
Jane M. McCarthyIan P. McCarthy Leyland F. PittDavid Hannah

3. Based on this paper, plus an in-progress study
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2020.01.001
As of 12th March 2020

4. It all started with ……
Lies LiesLies
Lies
Lies
Truth
LiesLies
Truth Truth
Truth
• Why is there so much ‘lying’ happening in workplace meetings,
committees and communications?
• Why is it rarely called out and rejected?
• How does it impact how we work?
• What can we do about it?

5. However, what we are often
witnessing, is not lying
• It is bullshitting:
– Bullshitting is done with no concern
for the truth.
– 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.
– A bullshitter has no regard for, and is
not constrained by, truth.
– “Whereas the liar misrepresents the
truth, the bullshitter ‘misrepresents
what he is up to” (p. 13).
Frankfurt, H. G. On bullshit.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 2005.
Google Scholar cites as of
12th March 2020 = 1,652

6. INFO 270: Calling Bullshit: Data Reasoning in a
Digital World
A credit degree course at the University of
Washington.
“The world is awash in bullshit”
“Politicians are unconstrained by facts”
“Science is conducted by press release”
“Startup culture elevates bullshit to high art”
“Bullshit is language, statistical figures, data
graphics, and other forms of presentation
intended to persuade by impressing and
overwhelming a reader or listener, with a blatant
disregard for truth and logical coherence”
https://callingbullshit.org/index.html

7. INFO 270: Calling Bullshit: Data Reasoning in a
Digital World
Course learning objectives
• Remain vigilant for bullshit contaminating your information diet.
• Recognize said bullshit whenever and wherever you encounter it.
• Figure out for yourself precisely why a particular bit of bullshit is
bullshit.
• Provide a statistician or fellow scientist with a technical explanation
of why a claim is bullshit.
• Provide your crystals-and-homeopathy aunt or casually racist uncle
with an accessible and persuasive explanation of why a claim is
bullshit.
• https://callingbullshit.org/syllabus.html

8. What is workplace bullshit?
• A colleague is a bullshitter when they do not care whether their
statements are actually true.
• Workplace bullshit occurs when colleagues are prompted to speak
about something which they do not possess the relevant knowledge
of the facts.
• A bullshitter’s bullshit can sometimes turn out to be correct.

9. Management research on bullshit
• Spicer, A., 2017. Business Bullshit.
Routledge.
• Sets out an agenda for reducing business
bullshit. We support and follow this
agenda.
• Links bullshit to phenomena such as
management fashions and the use of
jargon highlighting
• “No longer is bullshit a handy supply of
manure for fertilising new ideas. Instead, it
can create a dangerous waste problem,
which could make people and, indeed, the
entire organisation profoundly ill” (p. 164).

10. Management research on bullshit
• It takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets.
• How long would it take 100 machines of the same type to make 100
widgets?
– 5 minutes. Each machine makes a widget at a rate of 1 widget every 5
minutes.
• A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball.
How much does the ball cost?
• Typical questions in a Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT). (See Pennycook et al.
2016)

11. Management research on bullshit
• Pennycook, et al. 2015. ‘On the reception and detection of pseudo-
profound bullshit’. In Judgment and Decision Making
• Focus not on the bullshitter, but on the bullshittee i.e., the
consumer of the bullshit.
• The receptivity of the bullshittee correlates with lower cognitive
skills, religious and paranormal beliefs, and what they call ‘an
uncritically open mind’.
• Bullshit sensitivity, by contrast, correlates with analytic cognitive
mindset, critical thinking and scepticism.
• Does not consider the differences in job or organizational context.

12. Management research on bullshit
• Petrocelli, 2018. ‘Antecedents of bullshitting’. In Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology
• Examines specific antecedents of bullshitting. They find:
– People bullshit more when the social expectations to have an
opinion are high.
– People appear to bullshit freely when they expect to get away
with it.
– Bullshitting is significantly reduced when these two factors
jointly don’t exist.
– Depends on how knowledgeable or un-knowledgeable the
audience is.

13. Management research on bullshit
• Jerrim et al. 2019. “Bullshitters. Who Are They and What Do We
Know about Their Lives?” . Institute for the Study of Labor
• Define bullshitters as: individuals who claim knowledge or expertise in
an area where they actually have little experience or skill.
• Examined 40,000 teenagers’ propensity to claim expertise in three
mathematics constructs that do not really exist.
• Bullshitters exhibit high levels of overconfidence and believe they work
hard, persevere at tasks, and are popular amongst their peers.
• Male teenagers are more likely to bullshit than female teenagers.
• More prevalent in those from advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Teenagers in North America are bigger bullshitters than teenagers in
England, Australia and New Zealand, while those in Ireland and
Scotland are the least likely bullshit.

14. Management research on bullshit
• Christensen, et al. 2019. ‘Bullshit and Organization Studies’. In
Organization Studies
• Consider desirable bullshit in terms of the managerial practices of:
– Commanding: an alternative to command and control. A
workaround for managers. A sense of commanding without
commands.
– Strategizing: articulating inspiring futuristic visions without fully
understanding what is going on.
– The above can be expected or considered ‘normal’ in particular
situations.
• Explore why bullshit that is recognized by organizational members is
rarely called and rejected explicitly.

15. The C.R.A.P. framework for dealing with
workplace bullshit (McCarthy et al. 2020)
• Comprehending: What is it? Why does it exist?
• What is workplace bullshit?
• How is it different from lying and other forms of
misrepresentation?
• Why do people bullshit at work?
• How does it get spread?
• Why do people consume and allow workplace
bullshit?
McCarthy, I.P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L.F. and McCarthy, J.M., 2020.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace
bullshit. In Business Horizons.

16. The C.R.A.P. framework for dealing with workplace
bullshit (McCarthy et al. 2020)
• Comprehending: What is it? Why does it exist?
• Hanlon’s razor and the unknowing production and
spread of workplace bullshit
• Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be
explained by:
– Incompetence
– Lack of support
– Stress
– Ignorance
– Confusion
– Sloppiness
– Shyness
– …….. McCarthy, I.P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L.F. and McCarthy, J.M., 2020.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace
bullshit. In Business Horizons.

17. The C.R.A.P. framework for dealing with
workplace bullshit (McCarthy et al. 2020)
• Recognizing: How to develop a ‘nose for bullshit’?
• The first rule of bullshit recognition is to expect it
(Berkun, 2011).
• It masquerades as:
– statements that are abstract and general in nature,
lacking details, sources, and logic.
– meaningless language, acronyms, buzzwords, and
jargon
• Bullshitters can sometimes produce and spread bullshit
unknowingly.
Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks (2017) on the
new Starbucks Roasteries: “delivering an immersive,
ultrapremium, coffee-forward experience.”
McCarthy, I.P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L.F. and McCarthy, J.M., 2020.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace
bullshit. In Business Horizons.

18. The C.R.A.P. framework for dealing with
workplace bullshit (McCarthy et al. 2020)
• Acting: What actions can employees take?
• Draw on Hirschman’s (1970) framework:
– Exit: escape from the bullshit.
– Voice: confront (or call out) the bullshit.
– Loyalty: accept the bullshit.
– Neglect: disengage from the bullshit.
• Consider the context and costs for the
above.
McCarthy, I.P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L.F. and McCarthy, J.M., 2020.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace
bullshit. In Business Horizons.

19. The C.R.A.P. framework for dealing with
workplace bullshit (McCarthy et al. 2020)
• Prevent: How to stifle its production and
spread?
• Encourage critical thinking - What people
think and state, depends on how they think.
• Value expertise over egalitarianism, and
evidence over opinions.
– Expertise and evidence are central to
critical thinking and a disinfectant for both
the production and spread of bullshit.
• Prohibit excessive jargon and statistical
trickery.
• Eliminate pointless meetings and
committees.
McCarthy, I.P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L.F. and McCarthy, J.M., 2020.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace
bullshit. In Business Horizons.

20. “The amount of energy
necessary to refute bullshit
is an order of magnitude
bigger than to produce it.”
Alberto Brandolini
This is an interesting and compelling statement, but if there is no
evidence to support this claim, then it is a great example of
“bullshit about bullshit”.

21. Our next study: Workplace bullshit scale (WBS)
• This study describes the development of a multi-item scale
for assessing employee perceptions of bullshit in their
workplace.
– Bullshit culture scale
• Bullshit language
– Bullshit leaders scale
– Affective commitment scale
• Job satisfaction and job attitude

22. Our next study: Workplace bullshit scale (WBS)
• Conceptualization of the construct
– domain and use
• Qualitative inquiry
– literature review, interviews, and
presentations.
• Item generation
• Scale refinement and purity
• Scale validation
– Stability
– Validity (convergence, discriminant,
nomological and predictive)

23. Bullshit culture scale
• For example:
– It is easy to get access to the data I
need to make good decisions.
– When making decisions in my
organization, we place more emphasis
on evidence than on personal opinions.
– People at my workplace often make
assertions that they cannot support.
– In my workplace, you can persuade
people to do things even if the evidence
doesn’t support your arguments.

24. Bullshit leadership scale
• For example:
– My boss often says things that may or
may not be true.
– Even when people don’t know what
they are talking about, my boss will
often go along with their suggestions.
– When people make assertions without
evidence, my boss will challenge them.
– My boss loves to use acronyms.
– When my boss speaks, they usually
back up their opinions with logic.

25. Affective commitment scale
• For example:
– I would be very happy to spend the rest
of my career with my organization.
– I enjoy discussing my organization with
people outside of it.
– I really feel as if my organization's
problems are my own.
– I do not feel like 'part of the family' at
my organization.
– My organization has a great deal of
personal meaning for me.

26. Initial results: descriptive statistics of perceived
workplace bullshit

27. Some evidence of face validity
No bullshit A little bullshit Some bullshit Lots of bullshit
Mean score on
bullshit calculator
49.72 58.48 73.39 91.61
Regressing bullshit calculator on
overall perceptions of bullshit
Table 5
Results for Linear Regression with Bullshit_Calculator predicting AffComm.Total
Variable B SE CI β t p
(Intercept) 6.47 0.28 [5.93, 7.02] 0.00 23.35 < .001
Bullshit_Calculator -0.04 0.00 [-0.05, -0.03] -0.51 -9.76 < .001
Note. CI is at the 95% confidence level. Results: F(1,277) = 95.32, p < .001, R
2
= 0.26
Unstandardized Regression Equation: AffComm.Total = 6.47 - 0.04*Bullshit_Calculator
Regressing affective commitment
on bullshit calculator

28. 16 Item Bullshit Scale:
• Coefficient Alpha (Cronbach, 1951): .91
• Factor Analysis: 3 factors eigenvalues >1; Oblique rotation
Think About
Probably eliminate
Dimensions of Bullshit:
Factor 1: The workplace
Factor 2: The leader
Factor 3: Language

29. Workplace bullshit scale
• There appear to be three factors:
– Bullshit leadership
• “My boss often says things that may or may not be true.”
– Bullshit culture
• “In my workplace, evidence must be presented to support
decisions made.”
– Bullshit language
• “People in my organization use jargon far too often.”

30. Research opportunities
• Why do people bullshit? What are the dominant agendas for
bullshitting?
– When might bullshit be desirable e.g., for charming, for
placating, for joking, etc.
• Which professions and job roles are most and least “full of it”.
– The relationship between organizational creativity and bullshit
in design, advertising, marketing, public relations, etc.
– The relationship between organizational reliability and bullshit
in healthcare, military, airline operations, energy utilities, etc.
– Relationship between workplace bullshit and industry velocity.
– Scientists, lawyers and accountants versus marketers, public
relations and HR.

31. Research opportunities
• Interaction effects between the bullshit, the
bullshitter and the bullshittee.
• What other organizational and leadership
processes might be determinants for
workplace bullshit:
– Fake consultation.
– Fait accompli
• What is the relationship between type of
leader and leadership and volumes of
bullshit? What is the role of power in this
relationship?
• What are the most effective strategies to Act
(the A in the CRAP framework) in the face of
bullshit? Voice can bb both Active and
Constructive, so how do we effectively give
Voice?
“We want to include you in
the decision without letting
you affect it.”

32. Summary
• Workplace bullshit is a significant and important
phenomenon.
• Bullshitters bullshit in order to make their own lives easier.
• It can be a ‘skill’ or ‘art’ that impacts a person’s career and the
culture and performance of organizations.
• Bullshitters want to:
– impress rather than inform.
– elevate ones status or agenda with no regard for accuracy
or validity of the statement.

33. The C.R.A.P.
Framework
“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”
McCarthy, I.P., Hannah, D., Pitt, L.F. and McCarthy, J.M., 2020.
Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace
bullshit. In Business Horizons.

34. Thank you!

35. The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for the research
paper that these slides are based on is:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2020.01.001