11/22/2023 0 Comments Obscure slang for poppycock or hogwash![]() ![]() ![]() But employees feel they are being lied to or taken for fools. They also think that longer words and sentences help show they have thought deeply about it. But haven’t we all heard the latter, one way or another?īusinesses use this type of weaponised language and obfuscation to mask a harsh reality. In the same way that we have to reduce the size of the workforce is obviously preferable to there is a strategic need to rightsize and reallocate resources to business areas where synergies are more effectively realised. The bus is red is unquestionably easier to understand than the urban passenger transportation vehicle is vermillion in colouration. How can people have meaning in what they do if they are focused on changing the game with a silver bullet? We are simply hypnotising ourselves out of being able to see meaning or being able to focus on getting the job done. Maybe that’s why there is this constant fight for meaning in the modern world of work and demand for improved productivity. No wonder no one has the bandwidth to take on anything new. So, at a time when the competition for people’s time at work has never been fiercer, what do we do? We speak in ways that over elaborate, take too long and impart no information. I was going to describe all this as bull****, but that's NSFW. I have FOBI, a fear of being included in the desire to make everything an acronym. But FOMO? I don't have a fear of missing out. If we all know what they stand for like FYI or CEO then maybe we can justify their use. The dreaded acronym and initialism, are also adding fuel to the fire of confusion. It maybe also gives us a shorthand for our work so we can understand each other quickly. We feel like we are all in the same tribe. Well, sociology says that if we all use the same language in a community it helps build identity and a sense of belonging. The very opposite of what they were intended to do at work. That’s why poets use metaphors - they eliminate the specific and stifle action. And, therefore, induces dreamlike states. A bad metaphor fails to do any of that.Īnd on that definition, in the corporate world, we fail miserably.Īs these phrases become substituted for plain English, the long-term effect becomes hypnotic - almost comforting. It gives a vivid picture or brings a surprising new insight. You can see the allure.īut the recipe for a great metaphor is that it makes the everyday or mundane strikingly different yet truly parallel. In this way, making improvements becomes moving the needle and doing the easy stuff first becomes tackling low hanging fruit. My theory is someone takes a simple word or action that we do at work, and then seeks to elevate it’s importance, or more likely their own importance, by using a more obscure word that means the same thing or by turning it into a half-baked metaphor. Just don’t use these phrases when doing it.įirstly, you will, in all probability, sound ridiculous but more likely you will sound like someone who has just come back from a leadership course. The next time you feel the burning desire to take it offline, not boil an ocean, feedforward, herd some cats, shift a paradigm, hold an ideation session or open the kimono, by all means knock yourself out.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |