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The wonderful world of budget games
  Posted: April 25, 2005
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I was just revisiting Chris Argyris' classic (and strangely expensive) book from 1990 on Overcoming Organizational Defenses, and rediscovered his list of 12 budget games managers and politicians play when trying to get a project passed through the system. See how many look familiar to your organization or to yourself (be honest):

• Foot in the door
  Sell a new program modestly. Conceal its real magnitude.
• Hidden ball
  Conceal a politically unattractive program within an attractive one.
• Divide and conquer
  Seek approval of a budget request from more than one supervisor.
• Distraction
  Base a specific request on the premise that an overall program has been approved when this is not in fact the case.
• It's free
  Argue that someone else will pay for the project so the organization might as well approve it.
• Razzle-dazzle
  Support the request with voluminous data, but arranged in such a way that their significance is not clear.
• Delayed buck
  Submit the data late, arguing that the budget guidelines required so much detailed calculation that the job could not be done on time.
• Our program is priceless
  It is difficult to argue against defense or human life.
• It can't be measured
  The real benefit is subjective.
• Tomorrow and tomorrow
  If there are no results today, promise some in the future.
• Stretching things
  The real skill is not simply to promise something that is difficult to prove; promise something that is impossible to disprove.
• Both ends against the middle
  Play competing committees against each other.

Let the games begin!