Five years ago Al graduated from college and began working for Superlative Software Corporation. His most recent promotion has made him the manager of a large group of software engineers and support staff. One of Al’s responsibilities is to submit his budget request for the next fiscal year. He’s never done this before, so one day over lunch he asks Barb, a more experienced manager, for some advice. Barb: Figure out what you really need to complete the projects your group will be doing, and then add another 20 percent. High-level management always cuts every-body’s budget 10 to 20 percent, so after they reduce your budget, you’ll still have the money you need. Al: But the memo from the vice president said we should only ask for the amount of money we really need. Barb: Nobody pays attention to that. Al: What if they ask me to justify my budget? It’ll be pretty obvious that I’ve padded it. Barb: They never do that—they don’t have the time. Even if they did, you can work the numbers to justify the extra staff you’ll need to meet the tight deadlines they’ve set. Al: You mean lie? Barb: Look, what are you going to do if your group doesn’t get the budget it needs? You won’t be able to staff up for the new projects. That means you and all your current staff are going to be super stressed all year long trying to meet the deadlines. Spare yourself a lot of grief and do what all the other managers are doing. What would you do if you were in Al’s position? Why?