Buzzwords that make boardrooms spin and PowerPoints sing.
Data analysis results that supposedly inform decisions, as opposed to the regular insights that just sit there being useless. Marketing's way of justifying another dashboard.
Corporate-speak for goals that are supposedly measurable, achievable, and aligned with company vision, but in reality are vague aspirations written to satisfy management frameworks. They're the answer to "what are you working on?" that sounds impressive in meetings but means absolutely nothing. Bonus points if they include the word "strategic" or "synergistic."
The trendy adjective describing approaches that combine multiple elements, disciplines, or perspectives into one harmonious whole—popular in medicine, education, and consulting. It's the philosophy that everything's better when you mix it together: Eastern and Western medicine, theory and practice, or every buzzword in your industry. Essentially "holistic" with a graduate degree.
Relying on only one relationship or contact point within a client organization, creating massive risk when that person leaves or changes roles. The business development equivalent of putting all your eggs in one basket, then dropping the basket.
A deliberately false or misleading story that somehow gains traction despite being completely untrue—basically fake news before we had a catchy term for it. In aviation, it also refers to an aircraft design with stabilizing wings in front of the main wing, because apparently one definition wasn't confusing enough. The food term refers to duck, but that's just French being French.
The art of making something someone else's problem while still taking credit if it succeeds. It's a group of representatives sent to negotiate or discuss issues, or the management technique of assigning tasks to subordinates because you're 'too strategic' for actual work. The corporate skill that separates executives from employees.
The pivot point or support about which a lever operates, making it possible to move mountains (or at least heavy objects) with minimal effort. Archimedes' favorite device for understanding the entire universe.
That precious, easily-destroyed quality of being believed and trusted—built slowly through consistency and destroyed instantly through one scandal or mishap.
The business practice of hiring someone else to do your work, usually overseas and for less money, then acting surprised when quality and communication suffer. It's how companies cut costs while executives explain that layoffs are necessary for competitiveness, right before their bonuses arrive. Originally sold as focusing on "core competencies," it often results in nobody being competent at anything.
To approve something without actual review or scrutiny, just going through the motions like a bored bureaucrat at the DMV. The illusion of governance without the inconvenience of actually governing.
To approve a project or initiative to proceed, borrowed from traffic signals. The moment before everyone realizes they should have asked more questions.
The minimum requirements needed to compete in a market, borrowed from poker. What you need just to get in the game, not to win it—though many companies mistake this for a complete strategy.
Someone who influences others through their ideas and expertise, or more commonly, someone with a LinkedIn account and opinions. The self-appointed title of everyone with a blog.
Corporate-speak for "really, really detailed," describing data or analysis broken down into tiny, specific components rather than broad strokes. Business folks love to "get granular" on everything from budget line items to customer segmentation, essentially meaning they want to zoom in until they can see the individual pixels. It's the buzzword that justifies another three-hour meeting to discuss the minutiae.
The internal rules an organization creates to govern itself, like a corporation's personal constitution that nobody reads until there's a fight. These self-imposed regulations cover everything from meeting procedures to officer duties. Basically, the fine print that tells everyone how the sausage gets made.
A metric that converts various part-time, contract, and temporary workers into full-time employee units for headcount purposes. The mathematical fiction that makes your understaffed team look adequately resourced on spreadsheets.
The phenomenon where women and minorities are more likely to be promoted to leadership positions during crises when failure is probable, effectively setting them up as scapegoats. The ceiling breaks only when the building is on fire.
A new executive or consultant who shows up, makes sweeping changes without understanding context, then leaves or gets promoted before the consequences hit. Hurricane management with a three-month fuse.
A meeting after a project ends to analyze what went wrong and right, theoretically for learning but often devolving into blamestorming. Autopsy for failed initiatives.
Critical information that exists only in certain employees' heads rather than documentation, creating bus-factor vulnerabilities and power dynamics. The undocumented institutional memory that vanishes when someone quits.
To hit the renewal button on a contract, lease, or commitment before it expires and you're left scrambling. Originally military slang for re-enlisting, it's now used across industries whenever someone decides "yeah, let's do this again." It's the adult equivalent of saying "same time next year?"
The corporate way of saying "this is your problem now" while making it sound empowering and leadership-oriented. It's about taking responsibility for outcomes, projects, or decisions, ideally without the authority or resources to actually control them. In management speak, it's a virtue; in practice, it's often a trap.
A calculated move or maneuver designed to achieve a specific short-term objective, as opposed to strategy which is the long game. In business, it's the specific actions you take; in military contexts, it's how you don't get outflanked. The difference between tactics and strategy is like the difference between knowing how to code and knowing what to build.
Someone with a supernatural ability to arrive exactly after all the hard work is finished, conveniently dodging effort while maintaining plausible deniability. The workplace phantom who materializes only when the moving truck is packed, the project is complete, or the cleaning is done.