The Courage Economy  ·  Chapter 16

The Lie Economy Inventory

Thirty-seven statements. Answer them the way things actually are, not the way you have described them to your boss.

This is not a personality test. It is not a development tool designed to make you feel good about your “growth areas.”

Answer with brutal honesty. Not how you wish things were. How they actually are. If you find yourself rationalizing, qualifying, or adding “but” to your answer — that is The Will talking. Pay attention to it.

This inventory is a mirror.

Before you begin

Do not take this alone. Take it, then ask your people to take it about you. Then compare. If there is a significant gap between how you scored yourself and how they scored you, that gap is your Lie Economy — the distance between the story you are telling yourself and the truth.

Score each statement

  1. 1 This is absolutely true in my organization
  2. 2 This is mostly true
  3. 3 This is sometimes true
  4. 4 This is rarely true
  5. 5 This is not true at all
1

Important Work

Do people believe the work matters?

absolutely truenot true at all
01
I have assigned my team to work on projects that I knew were not important because we needed to look like we were doing something.
Statement 1
02
I have sold unimportant work to my team as critical or transformational when I knew it was neither.
Statement 2
03
My team is currently working on something that exists primarily to make my department look valuable, not because it solves a real problem.
Statement 3
04
I have created teams or initiatives that were designed to produce a deliverable rather than to solve a root-cause problem.
Statement 4
05
If I asked my team - honestly and without consequence - whether they believe the work they are doing is important, I would not like the answer.
Statement 5
06
I have continued a project or initiative that I knew was failing because admitting failure would make me or my department look bad.
Statement 6
07
I have stripped autonomy from a team by predetermining the solution and asking them to execute rather than solve.
Statement 7
08
When my team has told me the work is not important or the approach won’t work, I have dismissed or ignored their input.
Statement 8
2

Curiosity

Can people ask why?

absolutely truenot true at all
09
When someone on my team asks “Why are we doing it this way?” my honest first reaction is defensiveness.
Statement 9
10
I have discouraged questions about decisions I’ve already made because I didn’t want to reopen the discussion.
Statement 10
11
There are topics or decisions in my organization that people know not to ask about.
Statement 11
12
I have punished or sidelined someone - formally or informally - for asking too many questions or challenging the status quo.
Statement 12
13
I have pretended to solicit input from my team when the decision was already made.
Statement 13
14
I say I have an “open door policy” but there are things my people will not tell me. And I know it.
Statement 14
15
When presented with information that contradicts my position, my first instinct is to discredit the source rather than examine the information.
Statement 15
3

Challenge

Can people disagree with you?

absolutely truenot true at all
16
In my team meetings, disagreement is rare.
Statement 16
17
I have labeled someone as “not a team player” because they disagreed with me or pushed back on a decision.
Statement 17
18
I need to be seen as the person who came up with the idea, even when I didn’t.
Statement 18
19
I have made it clear - through words, tone, or consequences - that challenging my decisions is unwelcome.
Statement 19
20
The people in my inner circle usually agree with me.
Statement 20
21
When my team does disagree, I listen politely and then do what I was going to do anyway.
Statement 21
22
I have never asked my team “Tell me why this is a dumb idea.” Or if I have, I didn’t actually want to hear the answer.
Statement 22
23
The last time someone directly challenged me, it did not go well for them.
Statement 23
4

Trust

Would your people say you are straight with them?

absolutely truenot true at all
24
There are things happening in my organization that I am not transparent about, and my rationale for that secrecy would not survive honest scrutiny.
Statement 24
25
I have taken credit for work that was not mine, or allowed credit to be attributed to me without correcting it.
Statement 25
26
I have promoted someone who was not the most deserving candidate because of personal loyalty, political considerations, or convenience.
Statement 26
27
I have avoided giving someone honest feedback because I didn’t want to deal with the discomfort.
Statement 27
28
I have told my team one thing and my boss another about the same situation.
Statement 28
29
If my team could see every email I’ve sent and hear every conversation I’ve had about them, some of them would feel betrayed.
Statement 29
30
I have made promises to my team - about resources, support, recognition, or direction - that I did not keep, and I did not adequately explain why.
Statement 30
5

Community

Do they work for each other, or for a paycheck?

absolutely truenot true at all
31
I have used the word “family” or “team” to describe my organization while behaving in ways that are fundamentally inconsistent with those words.
Statement 31
32
I have expected loyalty from my people without earning it through my own actions.
Statement 32
33
I have hosted team-building events or recognition programs while fundamental trust issues in my organization remain unaddressed.
Statement 33
34
My people would not say they feel genuinely valued by me.
Statement 34
35
If given the opportunity to leave with no consequences, a meaningful number of my team would do so.
Statement 35
36
I have laid off, reorganized, or made decisions that significantly impacted my people’s lives without being honest about the real reasons.
Statement 36
37
The bonds in my team exist in spite of my leadership, not because of it.
Statement 37

Your result

—
/ 185

By pillar

Each pillar shown as a percentage of its possible score. Higher is healthier.

The gap is the point

The most valuable thing here is not your score. It is the gap between your score and your team’s. That gap is the Lie Economy made visible. If the gap is small, you have something to build on. If it is large, you have something to reckon with. Either way — now you know.

And once you know, you can no longer pretend you don’t know.

Adapted from The Courage Economy by Thane Bellomo, Chapter 16: The Lie Economy Audit.

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