Beware the Red Herring

For centuries, English fox-hunters dragged a red herring in front of their hounds to distract them from the scent of the little furry guy.

In time, this practice produces the metaphorical “red herring,” which is an attempt to win an argument or negotiation by diverting attention from the real issue at hand.

Introducing a red herring in a discussion or negotiation can be a handy defensive tactic. But sometimes we use personal red herrings, which essentially is when we lie to ourselves.

Personal red herrings
It’s one thing to use red herrings with others as a communication tactic. But when we use them on ourselves, it’s unproductive at best and destructive at worst.

Shakespeare addressed this issue five centuries ago in perhaps his most famous play. Sharing his wisdom in Act I, Scene III, of Hamlet, Polonius said: “This above all: to thine own self be true…”

If you can’t be true to yourselves, you can’t be true to your dream. And a false dream is an entrepreneurial atomic meltdown waiting to happen.

Perhaps the most difficult challenge you’ll face is knowing when to continue to believe in whatever you’re working on and when it’s time to move on. And the dilemmas on these horns could range from a small piece of your plan, all the way to the actual validity of your vision and viability of the dream upon which you’ve staked your future.

One of my mentors helped me learn how to face these “go – no go” decisions by asking this question: “Do you have a fighting chance or just a chance to fight?”

The key to success is business, and indeed in life, may be as simple as knowing the answer to that question.

Check your Position
One way to tell if you’re dragging a stinking fish across the trail of your own dream is by checking your position. Here are three examples:

1. Have you conducted enough due diligence to find out if your plan has a reasonable chance of being successful? If not, telling yourself things will work out is a red herring.

2. Is your activity resulting in any success? If nothing’s working, convincing yourself that you just need to work harder is masking reality.

3. Are your assumptions performing? If you’re only consuming resources without creating opportunity, you must tell yourself the truth: You’re not on the right trail. Yet.

The whole truth
When even small successes can be found mixed in with the failures, you may have a vision merely in need of adjustments, and worthy of extra effort.

But, to evaluate all of this, small business owners need all the facts they can get their hands on. And they need the truth from all parties – especially from themselves.

The marketplace is formidable enough. Use red herrings for fox hunting and negotiating, not on yourself.

Write this on a rock
“This above all: To thine own self be true.”