I manage to read through one or two Business / Management related books each day. My memory stick is packed with hundreds of pages containing one sentence phrases – in need of editing. Mostly it is intuitive to locate what I’m looking for; screening a page as you would do for diagonal reading. Occasionally I have to adjust my filter as it is easy to be carried away. Since I have work in corporate environment before, I am still more than aware of this language and what it reinforces. However, being here with no business intentions I am rather enjoying the process. In fact, I am mostly amused of how absurd some of the phrases sound; especially when rereading without their context.
However, the locating, reading and writing creates a rhythm: imperatives (advice or instructions) interplay with declaratives (statements) and plain comments (on conditions). Reassuringly, there are many phrases borrowed from the world of common sense.
Not a surprise, many of the phrases are authoratively directing or pointing at mandatory actions, commanding or intending to govern. Habermas differentiated between language that is applied to communicate and that of strategic use, basically focused on making people do things.
Humour is important in my practice and in this work. It comes in – I think naturally – by de-contextualising the terms and selecting the ‘right’ terms. All are short in syntax. Some sound strangely distanced. I feel reminded of games – is it playing with options or relevance, with approval or dismissal? Other terms import words from seemingly unrelated areas. Yet, I am surprised how down-to-earth some of the phrases appear.
List edit #5
It is departmental.
Reinvent the week.
You are not alone.
Blame the culture.
If in doubt, test.
It could occur again.
Engage in recovery.
It’s an adventure.
Start to fail.
People are nervous.
Drive the insiders.
