Antidote to management-speak

The Book of Tao, article 81, thug prose:

Delivery of truth tends to suck real bad; if it doesn't suck, you can count on it not being the truth. The real deal doesn't use fake ass language; those who do ain't the real deal.

Here's a fake ass language: "We need to work hard, focus, execute and deliver results." Classic management speak.

Management-speak presents a one-sided agreeable picture, designed to elicit only compliance with no room for critical thought.

"Focus execute and deliver results" neglects to inform you the consequences of ignoring others parts of the business, putting to sleep your creative side and run like a robot.

Management-speak artfully hide the downsides from you, deny you the opportunity to prepare for the consequences if you succeed, set you up with faulty attribution when you fail.

Therefore the antidote when you hear management-speak is to ask: "what are we sacrificing?"

Originally published here