Yesterday my 30 minute commute to work took 1-hour & 45 minutes. At one point I pleaded to God “make it stop!” I ask myself – Why! Why do I do this day-after-day and chance this torture; sigh, I know why. When I finally settled in all comfy-like with my coffee – I pulled up the task du jour. Objective setting. No doubt, J.K. Rowling’s Dementors were stalking me.
Thankfully my manager and I already discussed the objectives topic and I’m not completely hosed. My Company is in the midst of change – we must be flexible as we reinvent ourselves to thrive in the new economy. We must behave differently. Our old way of doing business won’t see us into the future. My Intent is to bring a creative spark to my corner of the world; be authentic and do right work.
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “… Our vocation can nourish our understanding and compassion, or erode them. We should be awake to the consequences, far and near, of the way we earn our living.” (The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching [Parallax Press, 1998], p. 104)
So let us walk our talk – as individuals; as a Company. We claim transparency; okay then … soul-sucking office-speak has got to go. When I write my 2015 Objectives let me be direct – and real; quit the gobbledygook words that don’t mean anything. In his article Where Did Soul-Sucking Office Speak Come From? James Gingell tells how a Dilbert-like world came about, and the consequences of this obfuscation (yes – I really wrote that).
“Office-speak is not language,” says Gingell. “It’s not even jargon, but more a verbal argon—inert strings of sounds or symbols used to confuse underlings, to deliberately bore them and keep them servile.” Fancy business consultants made this stuff up; “they created the new-age-techno-babble-pseudo-scientific nonsense of office-speak. (Most directly and irrefutably, management consultants are responsible for the cowardly language of mass-sackings: ” rightsizing,” “streamlining,” and “restructuring.”)” – a bullet I dodged.
The old-world way of doing business penalizes us “for not using the anti-language of office-speak; those who don’t possess the office-speaker’s loose tongue get ignored, or offend people with their transparent straight-talking, or seem reserved.” A new transparent, connected economy wants understanding. Double-speak no longer desired.
Be aware of the world we perpetuate – or beware the soul-sucking Dementors.
Traffic? You’re next!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” ― Gloria Steinem
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