Just Write Communications
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Clients
  • Testimonials
  • Writing Tips
  • Weekly Chuckle
  • Meals We Steal
  • Bad Golf

Ladder THIS Up!

3/12/2017

3 Comments

 
Picture
​Ladder THIS up, fellas! Are you baked in? We need to get some heavy lifting done in quarter three or investors will throw the big rock at us.
 
Corporate buzzwords abound. They say nothing. The people who use them think value is attached. They kid themselves.
 
A good friend recently told me about the newly appointed CEO of his company. During a 30-minute speech to the masses, he used the phrase “heavy lifting” four times at a minimum, according to my friend.

Now, “heavy lifting” may seem to make sense. Broadly, yeah, it means we all need to work hard, get things done, navigate the landscape. But even those phrases mean nothing.

What, for example, does “navigate the landscape” tell employees or investors about the next step a company is taking? What does “get things done” mean? Are there specific projects on deadline? If so, which ones? And, of those, which are number one, number two and number three?

We’ll never know because no one specifies that information. So employees and investors grow bored and listless, then stop paying attention. Nothing means anything, so why listen?
 
Who creates business buzzwords? Is there some college or university that people attend to get this remarkable command of nothingness statements? It’s an art form. When practiced well, the masses nod their heads in the audience, acting like every word is a message from god.
 
It’s the cynic, the investigator, the person who uses his or her brain that dissects these types of statements, trying to find meaning and sense. When none is to be found, the speaker loses those people.
 
Oddly, if the leader was smart, s/he would know that those are the employees most important to the future of the organization. Motivate them, and you win. Set a clear direction that folks understand and respect, and they follow your lead. Explain explicitly what you mean, and they share your message with others (and typically support it).
 
There must be a committee somewhere that comes up with this stuff. How else could these buzz words/phrases be created and spread thoroughly through the business community and become part of the vernacular? The pointy heads in the back room spend weeks pushing paper across the table.
 
“Drink the Koolaid.”
 
“Break down the silos.”
 
“Tee it up.”

“Move the needle.”
 
Yeah, well MOVE THIS, fellas. Move the mush language aside and say something for a change.
 
The Board of Business Buzzwords Development, Enhancement and Revision Committee levels up every year in Silicon Valley to generate new business vernacular. They try new phrases and words on each other and see if the listeners understand what they mean. If not, they save it, add it to the list and use it. If, instead, the phrase makes sense and is useful, it is discarded.
 
Bradley: “Hey, have we captured ‘run it up the flagpole’ yet?”
 
Trevor: “Dude, that is so 80s.”
 
Bradley: “Well, we could use it to leverage our core competencies.”
 
Trevor: “Now you’re talking.”
 
If you want to get buy-in to the swim lane and empower your employees to find and categorize all the moving parts, keep talking without making any sense. You’ll baffle your staff, drive the company to a standstill and puzzle investors.

The ship will be dead in the water without a sail. Blow some fresh words in. Think through what’s really going on, then express the specifics.
 
You might find a lot more people paying attention, listening with their eyes and ears, instead of nodding off and looking out the window. It’s worth a try, don’t you think?

3 Comments
mike b
3/15/2017 11:55:09 am

Early in my corporate career I thought these buzzwords were unique to our company. I soon realized that they are indeed lazy phrases. A previous boss coached me to communicate clearly and concisely. He called me out anytime I used catch phrases or technical jargon, challenging me to state things in plain English. If someone can't articulate with enough detail for a layperson to understand, they either don't have a clear grasp on the situation or are hiding behind mumbo jumbo.

Reply
Dave Simon link
3/15/2017 02:11:11 pm

And you have risen to great heights because of those exemplary communication skills, that will carry you to your U.S. Senate seat when you choose to run.

Reply
mike b
3/15/2017 02:17:02 pm

Ha, ha. Given the current state of politics, I may have to reconsider and coerce you to be my campaign manager. Or vice-versa?




Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All

Proudly powered by Weebly