It’s time for our favorite corporate game, Buzzword Bingo! Pull out your game card. What words do you see on them this year? How do you like your chances of scoring a win in less than five minutes at your next all-hands meeting?
Certainly corporate bingo is brash and puerile and has no place in a business meeting, yet its very existence (and pervasiveness) speaks to a systemic problem in Corporate America. Executives and management all sound the same. Companies all sound the same. Earnings reports. Interviews. Acquisitions. Product announcements. Layoffs. Take one company’s announcement and cut and paste another company’s name and spokesperson on it and it probably works.
Executives and their minions are guilty of latching on to a word or phrase one of their peers used in a new or clever way in an announcement and rapidly turning it into a cliché.
Some classic terms abused over the years include:
| paradigm | empower |
| re-engineer | tiger team |
| synergy | right size |
| actualize | core competency |
| mentor | mission critical |
| bleeding edge | push the envelope |
| scalable | risk management |
| best practice | change agent |
| accountability | intellectual capital |
| monetize | convergence |
| best-of-breed | weed and feed |
| RIF | (add your favorite here) |
Thankfully, some of these terms are “so 1980s” (or 90s) that they’ve been retired. Or more accurately, replaced by something more fresh or cool. Hey, if you want to maintain your street cred in the executive suite, you better be aware of the latest business jargon.
What frustrates and infuriates employees is that management consistently demonstrates that either a.) they don’t believe their own words; or, b.) they believe their words which proves they are out of touch with reality inside their company walls. This completely undermines their reputation with the rank and file. It sure puts a damper on changing corporate culture (wait…another catchphrase that belongs on the corporate bingo card)
How do you know when to stop using a word or phrase? When it hits the Buzzword Bingo play card. That’s when your employees no longer believe you or the message you are delivering. And they are probably correct. If your product portfolio is a generation or more behind your competitor, or if your company has never done anything ground-breaking in its history, then claiming you are bleeding edge will only generate scorn.
Don’t talk a talk your company doesn’t walk. Your credibility is at stake within your own corporate walls, with your customers, ecosystem and Wall Street.
Definitely a "Win-Win" for all of us who read your blog
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