Who doesn't love a magic trick? When we watch magicians perform, we enjoy being fooled by their manipulations and sleights of hand. But when leaders in our workplaces use the same techniques as magicians to further personal agendas, they engage in a special and unique form of falsity. This can be useful in furthering organizational goals and performance, but it can also lead to frustration, dysfunction, and even the collapse of the organization. Drawing on research on the psychology of magic, we explain how business leaders construct "magical processes" that can be used to mislead and manipulate workers in the same ways that magicians trick their audiences. We propose a typology of magic tricks in organizations and introduce the acronym CARD to summarize the four steps in these processes: concealing, attracting attention, retaining attention, and directing behavior. We describe each step, provide illustrations, and explain how managers and employees might detect and defend against each one. Finally, we identify structural conditions that may make organizations vulnerable to magical processes. We hope to improve readers' ability to detect magic and CARD tricks, and to pierce through to the agendas hidden behind these false facades.

To prosper in dynamic times, businesses need to change their approach to rule-making and adherence. To transition to creating dynamic rules "rules that are built to change through collaboration, experimentation, and learning" leaders must help spread the correct mindset throughout their organizations. There are three specific steps that leaders should take to facilitate that shift: Increase employee involvement in rule-making, embrace rapid experimentation, and enact rule audits.