Business legends are like urban legends; they are useful allegorical stories with questionable truths.

I’m sure you have heard of urban legends, stories that are not necessarily true, but believed and shared because they are short, entertaining, and culturally relevant. They can serve to help us justify a belief (a spider laid eggs in a camper’s cheek= it is rational to fear spiders), or support an objective (a tooth left in Coke overnight will be gone by morning= I don’t want you to drink so much soda.) I have found there are similar stories that are circulated in the corporate culture; I like to call them business legends, and I am fascinated by them! Here are two:

1. The 70-20-10 Legend

Like urban legends, business legends are also stories that are not necessarily true, but are continually cultivated because they justify a business philosophy or objective. For example, business professionals who adopt the 70-20-10 model of…