So much crap, so little time.
31 Aug 2006
Ok. I’ve worked in the small and medium sized companies all my life now, and I can tell you with no uncertainty that no matter how large or small your organization, buzzwords and buzzphrases are as tightly integrated into your company, as its corporate charter. If you don’t know what I’m talking about think about the last time someone said to you or in your presence: “Let’s take this conversation ‘offline’.” In the quoted sentence, the buzzword is “offline”.
There are literally hundreds of these terms out there. I’ve compiled a list of my least favorites for you here. My task for you all is one of two:
Here is my list:
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Those of you with whom I’ve shared an office might think I stole these from a single man. If you know what I’m talking about, then you know who I mean. Well the truth is, I didn’t. Only two or three of these terms came exclusively from him. The rest I researched on my own. Later
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13 Responses for "A Task for You: Count the Buzzwords"
Funny, I work for a comapny that engages in that type of spiel, but some new phrases have emerged:
- Delta
- Net New
- Yes, but…
Two of my favorites that are said everyday where I work are:
Take the bull by the horns
It is what it is
Here is one of my favorites:
Leverage the business model. Nobody knows what it means, but there is a guy that I used to work with that said it all of the time on conference calls.
I heard another one today I haven’t heard in a while, so if I might amend my own list:
“Spinning our wheels”
[...] So what’s my problem? Where am I going wrong? Should I just pound the pavement (which should be in my Buzzwords post) a bit and try to spike my traffic figures? ARHG!!! Help The Average White Guy! [...]
I actually found you by googling “stupid management buzzwords.”
I was laughing with a friend today about how much we hate these things and how we try to use them ourselves in everyday work as a challenge.
To your list, I’d suggest adding:
next level (taking things to the)
bandwidth (capacity to take on more work)
full plate (of work)
stepping up to the plate (taking responsibility)
belts and suspenders (extra precautionary steps)
down in the weeds (too caught up in detail)
value proposition (who knows what it means?!?)
baubleheads (really dumb management guys)
plug-n-play (someone who doesn’t need training)
Thanks for your list…priceless!
Paula… AWESOME! If you think of some more, bring them here
Thanks for the comment
The phrase we used to hear endlessly was “going forward”; sometimes so gratuitously that it was used almost as a comma, as kids say “like”.
To make matters worse, the phrase prior to this was “moving forward”.
oh………that’s nothing……you should hear the “aerospace” industry talk (NASA, Boeing, USA, etc.)
how about: do you want to get into bed on this or let’s get into bed on this? hahahahahahha…….first time I heard that I was taken aback.
A few from my work:
“ratchet it up” - as in we have to get better at what we do.
“bang away” - until we find the problem
“vid-con” - monthly video conference
“get a few heads together” - have a meeting (usually for meeting’s sake, and nothing gets decided)
Quick question (I used to say to myself - “Make it quick then”
Here’s one: “Get all the liars in the same room” this term is used when there are many liars in an organization who cant seem to get the story straight.
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