Missed Deadline Excuses Revamped in the Corporate World

The age-old “my dog ate my homework” excuse may not fly in this paperless startup age, but there are plenty of other excuses you can use when didn’t finish all your work. Especially if you’ve earned your MBA.

There’s an endless number of to-dos at a startup, but I am a big proponent of that elusive work-life balance, AKA sometimes skipping out of the office before 8PM to go get an acupuncture or meet friends for a Grouper.

The key to getting away with not getting everything done is to talk like a businessperson. MBA degrees are optional, but helpful. Pull out those banal MBA one-liners and you can circumnavigate your way through any missed deadline or incomplete spreadsheet. Whether you’re too busy or just a little lazy, here are ten surefire lines that will cover your butt and earn you some corporate cred to boot:

1.       I didn’t have the bandwidth this week

2.       We were trying to boil the ocean

3.       I had to prioritize other deliverables

4.       It wasn’t the right high-level strategy

5.       It fell below the line this week

6.       It’s really a time and distance problem

7.       There were other low-hanging fruit to attend to

8.       It’s just not quite in my wheelhouse

9.       It didn’t make sense to reinvent the wheel

10.   The problem was that we were working in silos

11.   It’s an issue of scalability

OK, that’s eleven. Bonus!

Article Source: Venturebeat.com