As everywhere people in organizations tend to make up expressions and terms in order to sound more important and serious. In America, and here I am especially referring to Silicon Valley high tech companies – have pushed this habit to new heights. Many perfectly fine, accurate words have been replaced by big phrases which are a lot of air and little substance. A few examples:
If I wanted somebody’s input or feedback I used to say “I’ll talk to her” now one says “I will reach out to her”.
Employee 1: “We should meet tomorrow and discuss details. We also need to include Anne, George, and Freddie in this meeting.”
Employee 2: “I will reach out to them and see when they are available.”
The kimono still closed! © Brenda Bailey | Dreamstime.com
Before, when a decision or an agreement was reached or one left a meeting with a bunch of task lists one went and informed those, who weren’t in on the decision or the meeting. Now however that seems a tad trivial, and therefore one doesn’t merely inform or talk, no one socializes an idea.
Boss: “okay, so we move the deadline forward by three weeks. Please go and socialize this plan with the teams.”
In a world of political correctness and formulaic business speak there comes a time when one needs to speak openly and frankly. Instead of having a meeting, like in the olden days, these days one has “open kimono sessions”. The term is self-explanatory: all the facts get laid out and one has an honest discussion.
