Help me sort a debate at work...

[Dr. Stein]

Personally I've always thought the plain english brigade was infinitely more annoying than any management lingo I've come across. Scientists and philosophers coin terms all the time to suit there needs, why can't managers? Because they're hated is the only reason that springs to my mind.

Also, 'actioned' isn't interchangeable with 'acted' - its closest rival term is probably 'done'.

[dave_mc]

I'm no fan of the plain english brigade, but i think there's a bit of a difference between management speak and scientific terms. Normally in science it's a term which we don't have a word for yet (and in fact often words are used which already exist). In management speak it's normally something which we already do have a term for, but it's perceived as being too simplistic.

[gwEm]

I think most bosses/managers are tw@ts.

We're not all arseholes  PDT_002

I'm head of department so I'm counting myself! ;)

management tossers

[HairyChris]

Verbising words is pretty hideous. Not 'proper' English, but ultimately English is defined by it's usage it'll probably be recognised at some point.

I have to admin that I occasionally drop this in to e-mails out of having-to-deal-with-American-managers-ism.  :?

[Roobubba]

Personally I've always thought the plain english brigade was infinitely more annoying than any management lingo I've come across. Scientists and philosophers coin terms all the time to suit there needs, why can't managers? Because they're hated is the only reason that springs to my mind.

Also, 'actioned' isn't interchangeable with 'acted' - its closest rival term is probably 'done'.

Why can't managers? Because scientists (I include myself in this category) discover things for which no word or phrase exists, managers don't! Incidentally, it's 'their needs' :P

With that said, much of the management 'lingo' doesn't distress me too much. I am more annoyed by people using words of whose meaning they have no notion, or using far more complicated words than are necessary.

As a scientist, a good deal of my training has focussed on the ability to communicate complex ideas - I need to be able to tell non-scientists what my results mean! If I start using phrases like 'heterologous gene expression was induced with arabinose', there will be lots of blank faces. I'd have to come up with something like 'in order to make the bacterial cells start converting the DNA of interest into our target protein, a chemical called arabinose was added.' But you know what? that's something I would do! Yes, it's longer, but to be able to describe what's going on in a simplified way without using unfamiliar words, that is what's necessary.

But I suppose, time is money :)

[Dmoney]

I would say 'in order to make the bacterial cells start converting the DNA of interest into our target protein, we actioned a chemical called arabinose.'


or maybe i wouldn't.

[shobet]

Americanisms creeping up on British English I suspect... Shows that language is a living thing and not something that is static forever in time.....

The 'defenestrate' one made me laugh though, as I imagined the guy throwing someone out of the window..... Presumably an awkward customer?

It was related to bulk discounts for a potential hosting client. I work in IT and my bosses (3 founders, or flounders as I like to refer to them) are all developers who live for the job. They tend to be verbose bar-stewards most of the time and will take an essay to tell you something that could have been stated in a dozen words or so. Plus they think they're gods gift to everything they turn their hands to.

[gwEm]

Americanisms creeping up on British English I suspect... Shows that language is a living thing and not something that is static forever in time.....

The 'defenestrate' one made me laugh though, as I imagined the guy throwing someone out of the window..... Presumably an awkward customer?

It was related to bulk discounts for a potential hosting client. I work in IT and my bosses (3 founders, or flounders as I like to refer to them) are all developers who live for the job. They tend to be verbose bar-stewards most of the time and will take an essay to tell you something that could have been stated in a dozen words or so. Plus they think they're gods gift to everything they turn their hands to.

i know the type. i feel for you

[Ian Price]

I think most bosses/managers are tw@ts.

We're not all arseholes  PDT_002

I'm head of department so I'm counting myself! ;)

management tossers

Hey, I'm a manager  :lol:

But I am getting closer to a move to IT.  Will that make me less of a tosser?  :D

[mecca777]

Personally I've always thought the plain english brigade was infinitely more annoying than any management lingo I've come across. Scientists and philosophers coin terms all the time to suit there needs, why can't managers? Because they're hated is the only reason that springs to my mind.

Also, 'actioned' isn't interchangeable with 'acted' - its closest rival term is probably 'done'.

Oh, believe me, I'm no fan of people who don't understand the difference between useful technical/professional terms and what can only be described as obfuscatory verbiage. I accept that "acted on" would have been a better synonym, or perhaps "fulfilled" or "completed" or just plain "done". Others have made the point that scientists and philosophers tend to coin new words to express concepts in shorthand or because a precisely correct word doesn't exist up to that point (or, yes, just to show off). My problem is with people who speak or write unnaturally because they think it doesn't sound "professional" to use a short, common word if they can find a longer one.

I have the same problem with newspaper words, the words that nobody uses unless they're writing newspaper headlines; "Police slam yobs after fracas" and so on. It usually indicates that not a lot of activity is going on in the brain of the person speaking or writing, if they can string together whole sentences and paragraphs from these snippets. It's more or less the same as the pentatonic noodling I do in guitar shops, only with words.

[gwEm]

I think most bosses/managers are tw@ts.

We're not all arseholes  PDT_002

I'm head of department so I'm counting myself! ;)

management tossers

Hey, I'm a manager  :lol:

But I am getting closer to a move to IT.  Will that make me less of a tosser?  :D

i'm afraid you'll all still represent The Man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKT9vi8cQk

[tomjackson]

It's not really a problem for me as not much of my work seems to get 'actioned' :D

I think I need to incentivise; take it to the next level and really understand my core competencies.  I need to be be  proactive not reactive and really conentrate on the deliverables. I need to climb the strategic staircase then helicopter, before going forward and focusing on the high priorities.  I need to do this ASAP, give 110% and be a real team player. This will hopefully facilitate my team in acheiving the KPI's and client expectation.
Although it's hard to give a timescale or ETA, hopefully the heads up will give us some leverage with the bottom line.
Failing that we should conduct a SWOT analysis and see what can be communicated.  It is a client driven market after all.

Good to touch base
Best and kindest thanks and regards

T. G. Jackson BSc (Hons) MRICS, CLAS, CBCI, CGRCP-IT, CISSP, CISSP-ISSMP, CISM, CISA, CSOX, BSI ISMS LA
Senior quality control management project analyist of deliverable business engineering and quality

[gwEm]

It's not really a problem for me as not much of my work seems to get 'actioned' :D

I think I need to incentivise; take it to the next level and really understand my core competencies.  I need to be be  proactive not reactive and really conentrate on the deliverables. I need to climb the strategic staircase then helicopter, before going forward and focusing on the high priorities.  I need to do this ASAP, give 110% and be a real team player. This will hopefully facilitate my team in acheiving the KPI's and client expectation.
Although it's hard to give a timescale or ETA, hopefully the heads up will give us some leverage with the bottom line.
Failing that we should conduct a SWOT analysis and see what can be communicated.  It is a client driven market after all.

Good to touch base
Best and kindest thanks and regards

T. G. Jackson BSc (Hons) MRICS, CLAS, CBCI, CGRCP-IT, CISSP, CISSP-ISSMP, CISM, CISA, CSOX, BSI ISMS LA
Senior quality control management project analyist of deliverable business engineering and quality

yes..! I think you should form a tiger team too. search for those new verticals and hit the ground running.

[tomjackson]

Sh!t and p!ss I forgot to hit the ground running.  I've not made the grade have I?
Will have to review my PDP and see where we can go from here.....

[Afghan Dave]

off topic...

My favourite ever newspaper headline concerned an air ambulance being called following a rural animal attack:


Day Of High Drama As Lama Harms A Farmer! (no shite that genius was in the metro)  :lol: