I just had to smile today as I read about the ILM survey sighting management speak as one of the most irritating characteristics of work colleagues.
It reminded me of a little trick that a couple of us played on some colleagues. It wasn’t so long ago, so I cannot say who and where it was.
We were convinced that some of our colleagues, in a bid to impress their peers, were using words or phrases that didn’t mean anything. We even thought that they were just making things up.
We therefore decided to put our theory to the test.
We came up with a phrase and agreed to use it during our planning meeting. The phrase was “nano-conceptualisation opportunities.”
Throughout the meeting we were looking for chances to use this phrase, but it wasn’t proving easy to do. Then, just before the meeting ended, an ideal opportunity presented itself because we were discussing science and technology projects. Without hesitation, and with a straight face, my colleague suggested that our strategy must include “nano- conceptualisation opportunities.”
Everyone in the room nodded, smiled and agreed. One person even confirmed that he had already considered this and would make sure that these were covered in the strategy.
We couldn’t believe it. It was so hard not to burst out laughing. To this day (it was a few years ago) no one has ever challenged or questioned the use of this phrase.
I’d love to hear about the jargon that irrates you too.
At this juncture, I am taking this window of opportunity to scope ideas, run them up the flag pole and see which ones fly so that I can hand out assignment capsules.
Forgive me, I couldn’t resist.