Push that envelope

My grandfather reckoned that “spade” was an acronym for Sharp Pointed Agricultural Digging Equipment. For me this always coloured the expression about calling a spade a spade. In this context a mate of mine often used the expression “That’s not a spade, it’s an “effing shovel”.

And so it goes. Phrases and expressions that may have once been rich with meaning and purpose become locked into our language and our lives where people roll them out with little thought.

Nowhere is this phenomenon more conspicuous than in Management Speak™. I reckon that there are teams of people employed in various organisations whose sole purpose is to dream this stuff up. Expressions that may be amusing when heard for the first three or four times, but which quickly fade once widely embraced.

Management Speak is always changing. New expressions appear. Some hang around for a while, some for way too long. Sadly, I’ve used a few. When in Rome...

Here are some of the current crop that I bet some of you have used at least once.

• ballpark figure
• be proactive not reactive
• bring it to the table
• mission critical
• move the goalposts
• think outside the box
• blue-sky thinking
• pushing the envelope
• there is no 'I' in team
• knowledge base
• core competencies
• win-win situation
• client focus
• deliverables
• incentivise
• take it to the next level

I was wondering what the next crop of Management Speak debutants may contain. I thought that “crowd sourcing” may provide some useful insights.

What have you heard recently that has pricked your consciousness and graunched your gears?

Fabulous prizes may be awarded to the winning entrant!