Buzzwords
Five Words to Avoid
Words do not exist in isolation: words exist in context. Consider that the English language word “recommended” is positive, whereas the Italian word “raccomandato” is an insult. The word is the same, with the same meaning, but what changes is the context (in this case, English versus Italian cultural norms). Below are five words that…
Read MoreStartup vs. Small Business
This differentiation has come up several times recently, and it is worth highlighting they key difference between a Startup, and an actual Small Business. Startups are about acceleration. The priority is rapid growth in terms of market share, recognition, and customer loyalty, before your competition really know what is happening. These factors are more important…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – Next Generation
A return to the Professional Patois series examining popular buzzwords brings us to address the term: Next Generation New. Improved. This 2010s version of calling something “2.0”. Actual Meaning And, of course, that is the actual meaning. The problem arises with the term’s over-use. Suddenly everything is “next generation”, sometimes when what it really is…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – B2B/B2C
This week’s Professional Patois is once again slightly different: I do not so much wish to explore the wrong use and available alternatives of an expression, but rather talk a little bit about its definition. B2B and B2C Business to Business and Business to Consumer. These describe the direction of a company, more specifically the…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – See The Big Picture
See The Big Picture I am almost cheating this week, as I don’t intend to correct the semantic use of the expression, rather the application of it in the workplace. As we all know, to see the big picture in business means to see all the connected dots and to understand actions and reactions that…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – Close Of Play
Close of Play Five Thirty. Or Six or whatever time is considered the end of the working day in your office. Unless your place of work clocks you and your colleagues out at the same time every day, then it is hard to know the exact time intended. And also note the “play” part: then…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – Touch Base Offline
I examined the use and meaning of “Touch Base” in my previous Professional Patois post. It is, of course, common to have meetings electronically and as a consequence, to touch base offline has come to mean a short follow up meeting, in person, usually between just two (or a smaller group of) the participants. The…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – Touch Base
To Touch Base “I will be in touch”. With an implication of “briefly”. It is a way to say that I will be contacting you, with nothing to urgent or in any case only for a quick moment. Actual Meaning A simple one for my American readers: the expression comes from baseball, where the action…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – Synergy
Synergy In the business world, Synergy is used most often referring to people or projects: two (or more) people working together or two (or more) projects whose joint efforts are related. It refers to an interaction whose efforts will result in a mutual benefit. Actual Meaning This is one of the most strongly disliked buzzwords,…
Read MoreProfessional Patois – Disruptive
Before I get started on this, it is important to know two things: Your product is probably not disruptive, and That is ok. Even a good thing. Disruptive Everybody wants to be disruptive. In part because everybody thinks that everybody else is disruptive. People have come to use the term to mean new, innovative, and…
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