Management-speak
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Somewhere flat
Age: 68
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Slightly off-topic but did anyone else hear the new CEO of Barclays talking
about "synergies going forward" in his interview with Robert Peston on BBC News
yesterday?
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
It is a phrase taken up from trade. If you Google appetite almost all definitions are in the context 'appetite for'. Then the definitions all include the word desire. The Desire for food, the Desire for Power, the [I]Desire for Risk.
Really, you desire for risk?
My point is that it is a perfectly defined word used, and abused, out of context as much business speak is.
Gentleman Aviator
Loved the Gus-isms from DTDD linked at post #7 - must dig out the DVDs again.
I often use a Gus-ism not quoted there (but with my tongue firmly in my cheek).
"We don't have problems, we have Management Challenges!"
I often use a Gus-ism not quoted there (but with my tongue firmly in my cheek).
"We don't have problems, we have Management Challenges!"
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Richmond Texas
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Some of this swill was amusing and perhaps even useful the first time it appeared, a bit like a condiment sprinkled on otherwise bland and pointless prose. It is the continuous repetition that numbs the mind and stimulates the upper digestive tract to reversion.
After an excellent landing etc...
After an excellent landing etc...
Try this lot for size:
I think we need to hit the ground running, keep our eye on the ball, and make sure that we are all singing off the same song sheet. At the end of the day it is not a level playing field and the goal posts may move; if they do, someone else may have to pick it up and run with it. We therefore must have a golf bag of options hot-to-trot from the word 'go'. It is your train set but we cannot afford to leave it on the back burner; we've got a lot of irons in the fire, right now.
We will need to un-stick a few potential poo traps but it all depends on the flash-to-bang time and fudge factor allowed. Things may end up slipping to the left and, if they do, we will need to run a tight ship. I don't want to re-invent the wheel but we must get right into the weeds on this one. If push comes to shove, we may have to up stumps and then we'll be in a whole new ball game.
I suggest we test the water with a few warmers into the bank. If we can produce the goods then we are cooking with gas. If not, then we are in a world of hurt. I don't want to die in a ditch over this, but we could easily end up in a flat spin if people start getting twitchy. To that end, I want you to get round the bazaars and make sure the movers and the shakers are on-side from day one. If you can hit me with your shopping list I can take it to the head honchos and start the ball rolling.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and I think we have backed a winner here. If it gets blown out the water, however, I will be throwing a track. So get your feet into my in-tray and give me chapter and verse as to how you see things panning out. As long as our ducks are in a row I think the ball will stay in play and we can come up smelling of roses.
Before you bomb burst and throw smoke, it is imperative we nail our colours very firmly on the mast and look at the big picture. We've got to march to the beat of the drum. We are on a sticky wicket. we'll need to play with a straight bat and watch out for fast balls.
I've been on permanent send for long enough and I've had my ten pence worth. I don't want to rock the boat or teach anyone to suck eggs, but we must keep this firmly in our sight picture or it will fall between the cracks. If the cap fits, wear it, but it may seem like pushing fog up a hill with a sharp stick.
We will need to un-stick a few potential poo traps but it all depends on the flash-to-bang time and fudge factor allowed. Things may end up slipping to the left and, if they do, we will need to run a tight ship. I don't want to re-invent the wheel but we must get right into the weeds on this one. If push comes to shove, we may have to up stumps and then we'll be in a whole new ball game.
I suggest we test the water with a few warmers into the bank. If we can produce the goods then we are cooking with gas. If not, then we are in a world of hurt. I don't want to die in a ditch over this, but we could easily end up in a flat spin if people start getting twitchy. To that end, I want you to get round the bazaars and make sure the movers and the shakers are on-side from day one. If you can hit me with your shopping list I can take it to the head honchos and start the ball rolling.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and I think we have backed a winner here. If it gets blown out the water, however, I will be throwing a track. So get your feet into my in-tray and give me chapter and verse as to how you see things panning out. As long as our ducks are in a row I think the ball will stay in play and we can come up smelling of roses.
Before you bomb burst and throw smoke, it is imperative we nail our colours very firmly on the mast and look at the big picture. We've got to march to the beat of the drum. We are on a sticky wicket. we'll need to play with a straight bat and watch out for fast balls.
I've been on permanent send for long enough and I've had my ten pence worth. I don't want to rock the boat or teach anyone to suck eggs, but we must keep this firmly in our sight picture or it will fall between the cracks. If the cap fits, wear it, but it may seem like pushing fog up a hill with a sharp stick.
Really, you desire for risk?
Ergo, "Risk Appetite". Not a daft management speak phrase at all, just new(ish) to the military and probably why it's derided. I remember that many laughed at "Air Power" in about 1995! But even the RAF has to catch up with the real world sometimes.
If I were a Risk Manager on a programme, I most certainly WOULD "desire risk", because being notified of a risk would demonstrate the system is working, at least up to a point. I would also desire that the probability of occurrence was low and time, cost and performance impact negligible.
Far better this than the situation I experienced some years ago when my non-technical boss issued an instruction that under no circumstances would anyone notify the Risk Manager of any risks - then proudly reported to our 3 Star that the programme was risk free.
That 3 Star was General Sam Cowan, unfairly maligned by Haddon-Cave. He was too wise and knew he was being lied to. But it illustrated how the system conspires to deceive even the most senior. We had a shared 2 Star with Nimrod, so one assumes he was lied to on that programme as well........
Far better this than the situation I experienced some years ago when my non-technical boss issued an instruction that under no circumstances would anyone notify the Risk Manager of any risks - then proudly reported to our 3 Star that the programme was risk free.
That 3 Star was General Sam Cowan, unfairly maligned by Haddon-Cave. He was too wise and knew he was being lied to. But it illustrated how the system conspires to deceive even the most senior. We had a shared 2 Star with Nimrod, so one assumes he was lied to on that programme as well........
