I’ve finally quit asking an interview question about situations in which prospective job candidates would make a conscious strategic decision to bluff. While based on a real-life situation where I had to bluff during a senior executive presentation, hardly anyone would identify when they’d do the same.
That’s too bad, because bluffing can be an effective strategy - just refer back to yesterday's post about Joe DiMaggio. The key is to not overdo it and to be able to sustain the implications of having your bluff called.
I’ve bluffed several times recently with outside parties looking for assistance where there was little downside if they said no – which the first one did. In every other case though, the strategy resulted in a positive gain for both of us, interestingly enough.
So how about you?
What’s a situation where you’ve had to bluff either in business or personally? Have you seen someone else bluff and get called on it? Or someone bluffing and winning big as a result?
Share your stories in the comments section, and tomorrow we’ll cover successful bluffing tips from the world of poker (hey, ESPN thinks it's a sport).
