{"id":63672,"date":"2017-09-21T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=63672"},"modified":"2017-09-21T04:50:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T08:50:29","slug":"tel-andre-spicer-insidious-management-speak-has-infected-the-land-from-our-boardrooms-to-our-school-halls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=63672","title":{"rendered":"(Tel.) Andre Spicer–Insidious management speak has infected the land, from our boardrooms to our churches to our school halls"},"content":{"rendered":"

M<\/span>anagement speak has even found its way into the Church of England. In 2014, the Church commissioned a “talent management<\/strong>”\u00a0programme for “future leaders<\/strong>“. A report about\u00a0the programme mentioned the word “leadership”\u00a0171 times. “God”\u00a0was mentioned 21 times.<\/p>\n

L<\/span>amenting how this meaningless chatter had taken over our great national institutions, I turned to daily life for some respite. Instead of solid common sense I found the same guff. One friend remembered asking his girlfriend to meet him after work, to which she responded: “what\u2019s the value add?<\/strong>“. I came across a prospective father who talked about naming his child as “personal brand design<\/strong>“. Another dad talked about how he used “six sigma<\/strong>”\u00a0techniques to raise his four daughters. I even read a Harvard Business School professor describing marriage as a merger which involve “due diligence<\/strong>“, “synergies<\/strong>“, “costs of integration<\/strong>“, and “strategic execution<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n

Why are we attracted to this\u00a0impenetrable tosh. Are people just stupid? Not really \u2013 smart, well-educated people are particularly enthusiastic devotees of management speak. Do they lack\u00a0experience in the real-world? No again. Management jargon is used by even the most seasoned\u00a0operators.<\/p>\n

So why do we use it? Managers told me there were some big gains to be made from business balderdash. Some said it made them look good. By walking into a meeting and firing off bullet points filled with management jargon, they hoped they would be seen as “up to date<\/strong>“, “intelligent<\/strong>“, and even “inspirational<\/strong>“. In this sense, management talk can also be a useful self-confidence trick. By describing themselves as a “Quality Catalyst<\/strong>”\u00a0or a “Innovation Sherpa<\/strong>“, a middle manager can feel a little better about their boring job.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Management speak has even found its way into the Church of England. In 2014, the Church commissioned a “talent management”\u00a0programme for “future leaders“. A report about\u00a0the programme mentioned the word “leadership”\u00a0171 times. “God”\u00a0was mentioned 21 times. Lamenting how this meaningless…<\/span><\/p>\n

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