Put a Pin It

Let’s circle back, shall we, to the corporate world.  But instead of discussing offsites and trainings as we did in one of my previous blogs, let’s think outside the box, do a deep dive, and drill down on another topic: corporate jargon.

Not really sure why the corporate world felt the need to develop its own language.  Because if you ask most people who work in the corporate world, myself included before I retired from it, we will tell you we find it really annoying.  And yet, there we are, at the end of the day, we are all leveling up, hopping on a call, grabbing that low hanging fruit, and unpacking it like it’s our native tongue.

Not really sure you like the idea your coworker just threw out? Suggest ever so kindly, that we put a pin in it.

How about that coworker who is taking the conversation in the wrong direction?  That’s the time to suggest that the two of you take the conversation off-line.

Want to make sure you are included in whatever piece of communication or subject matter you feel you must know or you will suffer from FOMO?  Ask them to keep you in the loop.  And if you really think there’s something you need to know urgently, ask them to ping you.

Anxious to get to consensus?  Just keep at the discussion until you can all agree that you are on the same page.

If you find that the group cannot come to any consensus at all after 12 hours of meetings and discussions, then the proverbial, let’s table this, will serve you well here.  But be sure to remind everyone that the last thing we want to do is reinvent the wheel.  And if worse comes to worse, we can always throw it up on the wall and see what sticks.

Your boss throw some extra work your way?  Let her know that you don’t have the bandwidth and get clarity on her deliverables and timing.  Does she want a deck? How many pages?

Concerned an employee is not as organized as they should be? Encourage them to get their ducks in a row.

A program or promotion getting stale and tired and not as effective as it used to be or you just want to go in a different direction? Well, don’t you know, it’s time to sunset it.

Not sure if the program or idea that you are going to pitch to the c-suite will fly? Best to have a back-up in your back pocket.  And don’t go into that meeting unless you have already level set expectations and don’t leave until you have alignment.  Remind everyone that you don’t all have to agree, but you do need to align.

Are you going to be unreachable? Be sure to let your coworkers know that you will be out of pocket.

Who created all this jargon? And why? And how did they get everyone to participate? I think corporate jargon must be akin to legal-ese.  But since I am not a lawyer I can’t attest to that. 

One theory I have is that everyone wants to look smart and clever.  So one person uses a word, and another person thinks it sounds good, and then it goes viral from there.  Suddenly, if you are not using the words or phrases you run the risk of not looking smart and clever, or worse, just not in the know.

Sometimes, I swear it just happens by osmosis. The constant exposure starts to set in and then one day, without even realizing it, the words, let’s get the low hanging fruit, leave your mouth. Followed by, this is a win-win for everyone.

That newbie hire? Fresh out of college, they have no idea that they are about to get a whole new and other education.  Perhaps colleges should start teaching corporate jargon and have it count as a fulfillment for the language requirement.

Some words and phrases are johnny-come-latelies.  In 1985 I can tell you that no one in the corporate world used the term sunset.  I distinctly remember the first time I heard it said it in a meeting, maybe like 5 or 6 years ago.  I barely contained my eye-roll.  Really? Oh, come on.  Can we please just say that we decided to end the program.  If you want to get fancy with it, we could say we decided to retire it.  But really, just say it in the most simple and direct way, please.

And these new corporate johnny-come-lately phrases? Dollars to donuts it’s coming from the newbies.  From those Gen Z’ers who are entering the corporate culture and looking at the boomer phrases thinking, oh we can do better.  Pretty soon you will be able to identify which cohort a coworker is in based on their dialect of corporate-speak.  Somebody say “boots on the ground” or “wear many hats”?  Boomer.

But if someone is talking about the office vibe, or how there’s no cap, or something is basic?  Gen Z.

So, there is yet another advantage to being retired. You can sunset all that corporate nonsense and just speak normally.  And if someone isn’t aligned to that? Let’s put a pin it and circle back later.