Many people working in large companies speak business-buzzwords as a second language. Business language is full of pretty meaningless words. I Don’t Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore article tells that the language of internet business models has made the problem even worse. There are several strains of this epidemic: We have forgotten how to use the real names of real things, acronymitis, and Meaningless Expressions (like “Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectation”). This would all be funny if it weren’t true. Observe it, deconstruct it, and appreciate just how ridiculous most business conversation has become.
Check out this brilliant Web Economy Bullshit Generator page. It generates random bullshit text based on the often used words in business language. And most of the material it generates look something you would expect from IT executives and their speechwriters (those are randomly generated with Web Economy Bullshit Generator):
“scale viral web services”
“integrate holistic mindshare”
“transform back-end solutions”
“incentivize revolutionary portals”
“synergize out-of-the-box platforms”
“enhance world-class schemas”
“aggregate revolutionary paradigms”
“enable cross-media relationships”
How to talk like a CIO article tries to tell how do CIOs talk, and what do they talk about, and why they do it like they do it. It sometimes makes sense to analyze the speaking and comportment styles of the people who’ve already climbed the corporate ladder if you want to do the same.
The Most Annoying, Pretentious And Useless Business Jargon article tells that the stupid business talk is longer solely the province of consultants, investors and business-school types, this annoying gobbledygook has mesmerized the rank and file around the globe. The next time you feel the need to reach out, touch base, shift a paradigm, leverage a best practice or join a tiger team, by all means do it. Just don’t say you’re doing it. If you have to ask why, chances are you’ve fallen under the poisonous spell of business jargon. Jargon masks real meaning. The Most Annoying, Pretentious And Useless Business Jargon article has a cache of expressions to assiduously avoid (if you look out you will see those used way too many times in business documents and press releases).
Is Innovation the Most Abused Word In Business? article tells that most of what is called innovation today is mere distraction, according to a paper by economist Robert Gordon. Innovation is the most abused word in tech. The iPad is about as innovative as the toaster. You can still read books without an iPad, and you can still toast bread without a toaster. True innovation radically alters the way we interact with the world. But in tech, every little thing is called “innovative.” If you were to believe business grads then “innovation” includes their “ideas” along the lines of “a website like *only better*” or “that thing which everyone is already doing but which I think is my neat new idea” Whether or not the word “innovation” has become the most abused word in the business context, that remains to be seen. “Innovation” itself has already been abused by the patent trolls.
Using stories to catch ‘smart-talk’ article tells that smart-talk is information without understanding, theory without practice – ‘all mouth and no trousers’, as the old aphorism puts it. It’s all too common amongst would-be ‘experts’ – and likewise amongst ‘rising stars’ in management and elsewhere. He looks the part; he knows all the right buzzwords; he can quote chapter-and-verse from all the best-known pundits and practitioners. But is it all just empty ‘smart-talk’? Even if unintentional on their part, people who indulge in smart-talk can be genuinely dangerous. They’ll seem plausible enough at first, but in reality they’ll often know just enough to get everyone into real trouble, but not enough to get out of it again. Smart-talk is the bane of most business – and probably of most communities too. So what can we do to catch it?
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Tomi Engdahl says:
A CIO’s framework for measuring engineering productivity
BrandPost
Dec 11, 2024
3 mins
IT Leadership
Despite having multiple ways to measure developer productivity, tech leaders still struggle to tell a compelling story in the boardroom – but a new comprehensive framework aims to change that.
https://www.cio.com/article/3621554/a-cios-framework-for-measuring-engineering-productivity.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tutkimus piirtää synkeän kuvan työelämän kehityksestä – ”Huolestuttava tulos”
Työ|Työelämän koetaan jakautuvan yhä enemmän hyviin ja huonoihin töihin.
https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000010896741.html
Yli puolet suomalaisista arvioi työelämän kehittyneen huonompaan suuntaan viimeisen kymmenen vuoden aikana, ilmenee tutkimuslaitos E2:n tutkimuksesta. Tätä mieltä oli 59 prosenttia tutkimukseen osallistuneista vastaajista. 55 prosenttia arvioi saman suunnan jatkuvan.
Lähes kolme neljästä koki, että työelämä jakautuu yhä enemmän hyviin ja huonoihin töihin. Yli puolet ajatteli, että uudet tietojärjestelmät ja ohjelmistot monimutkaistavat työntekoa. Yli 70 prosenttia arvioi, että työ muuttuu aiempaa kuormittavammaksi, kun työmäärät, kiire ja tehokkuusvaatimukset kasvavat.
”Suomalaisten kokemukset kiireestä ja kuormituksesta täytyy ottaa vakavasti, ja haitallisen kiireen syyt on selvitettävä. Jos kiire liittyy epäselviin toimenkuviin tai kyvyttömyyteen asettaa työtehtäviä tärkeysjärjestykseen, niin johdon rooli ongelmien ratkaisemisessa on aivan ratkaiseva”, sanoo E2:n tutkimuspäällikkö Ville Pitkänen tiedotteessa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Psychology Study Reveals Trick For Appearing More Likeable In Social Situations
Ever felt awkward at a party? This could come in handy.
James Felton headshot
https://www.iflscience.com/psychology-study-reveals-trick-for-appearing-more-likeable-in-social-situations-77165
“Imagine this scenario: you meet a new colleague for the first time at a company party. You strike up a conversation, and the colleague starts telling you a funny story. You are interested and engaged, and you ask several questions that encourage the colleague to elaborate on the details of the story,” the team writes in their study. “After the story is over, you exchange pleasantries and part ways. Later you realize that your colleague didn’t ask any questions about you, and you didn’t have an opportunity to reveal much information about yourself. Who made the better impression?”
While you might think that the talker, with their hilarious tales, would have left the better impression, looking into it further, they found that might not be the case.
These studies, according to the team, supported their hypothesis that “people like their partners more when they ask more questions, because people who ask more questions are seen as more responsive”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Onko yrityksessäsi fokus- vai burnout-kulttuuri? – Keskittymisvalmentajan opeilla treenaat organisaatiosi keskittymiskyvyn huippuunsa
Moni tietotyötä tekevistä on huomannut saman ongelman: keskittymisestä on tullut entistä vaikeampaa. Jatkuvasti ilmoituksista piippaavat laitteet ja älypuhelinta hamuava käsi eivät tee nykypäivän keskittymisympäristöstä helppoa. Onneksi keskittymiskykyä voi kuitenkin treenata. Mikä parasta, samoilla nikseillä kehität myös ongelmanratkaisukykyäsi ja luovuuttasi
https://www.dna.fi/yrityksille/blogi/-/blogs/onko-yrityksessasi-fokus-vai-burnout-kulttuuri-keskittymisvalmentajan-opeilla-treenaat-organisaatiosi-keskittymiskyvyn-huippuunsa%20?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=KAN-artikkeli-onko-yrityksessasi-fokus-vai-burnout-kulttuuri-keskittymisvalmentajan-opeilla-treenaat-organisaatiosi-keskittymiskyvyn-huippuunsa+&utm_campaign=P_KAN_24-48-01_artikkelikampanja__&fbclid=IwY2xjawHGTn5leHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqxYzeXqXXAEdxqkMNbxinYNfHVbD2RzeggUtuPmzuX92c_BKPK-7cWNa2zIi8Ap3g2BY_aem_7nMyrmu6H4l96GtYihJZOg
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.marckwort.fi/esiintyva-asiantuntija-ota-vinkit-talteen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon says developers spend ‘just one hour per day’ on actual coding
https://fortune.com/2024/12/05/amazon-developers-spend-hour-per-day-coding/?xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_FORTUNE&utm_campaign=fortunemagazine&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2Gg7uf32pdq830nG1LgtDoJ5SZymbA9QqdJUNyDqNY_BKjbsV5sdS36Cs_aem_E9hhAwYOBSNKQpvoRQQ4Ew
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/E1yf2CiWfZeJdmfS/
Developers are heavily paid workers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Esihenkilöitä ahdistaa – miksi lähes puolet suomalaisista ei halua pomotehtäviin?
Maaria Parry ja Timo Halttula päättivät, etteivät halua esihenkilöiksi.
https://yle.fi/a/74-20130275
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokian historiaa leimasi monta karmeaa virheliikettä jo ennen matkapuhelinten romahdusta – Näin rönsyilevästä monialayrityksestä kasvoi kännyköiden maailmanvaltias
Nokia oli aluksi kolmen toimialan yritys, joka paisui monialayhtiöksi. Jorma Ollilan kaudella se keskittyi matkapuhelimiin ja verkkoihin – ja nousi kännykkämarkkinoiden maailmanvaltiaaksi. Uudistuskyvyttömyys ja omahyväisyys johtivat romahdukseen.
https://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/uutiset/nokian-historiaa-leimasi-monta-karmeaa-virheliiketta-jo-ennen-matkapuhelinten-romahdusta-nain-ronsyilevasta-monialayrityksesta-kasvoi-kannykoiden-maailmanvaltias/e1017d35-929a-4d96-8501-4e412271972b
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.dna.fi/yrityksille/blogi/-/blogs/onko-yrityksessasi-fokus-vai-burnout-kulttuuri-keskittymisvalmentajan-opeilla-treenaat-organisaatiosi-keskittymiskyvyn-huippuunsa%20?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=KAN-artikkeli-onko-yrityksessasi-fokus-vai-burnout-kulttuuri-keskittymisvalmentajan-opeilla-treenaat-organisaatiosi-keskittymiskyvyn-huippuunsa+&utm_campaign=P_KAN_24-48-01_artikkelikampanja__&fbclid=IwY2xjawHd0cJleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqxYzeXqXXAEdQPA2CccpMQkrXLzknRdFu-YO1dBe6onlqntm3yZF0EcFgkIPRoyES-bc_aem_F0sA9AbUtVat5jdFAhaCbA
Tomi Engdahl says:
Motivating people
Making Joy a Priority at Work
https://hbr.org/2019/07/making-joy-a-priority-at-work?tpcc=orgsocial_edit&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0jFkzhEdSgUIM8ckIpDdSFqegJITffjK2fuQZMstVjUjwCvTXim0wtLzE_aem_di6bymvGiwufN1aEOXznOQ
Amid the dazzle and hopes of the digital age, it is easy to forget that old-fashioned human desire is as essential to achieving business goals as ever.
Right now, for example, companies are making massive investments in technologies that can more closely link their people to each other, to customers, and to other stakeholders. Yet many companies struggle because their cultures get in the way — too many layers and silos, too many colleagues who prefer to stay in their comfort zones, bask in their KPIs, and resist new ways of connecting and working.
This is a big problem. And joy can be a big part of the solution. Why? For two reasons. People intrinsically seek joy. And joy connects people more powerfully than almost any other human experience.
The connective power of joy is clearly visible in sports. When a team performs at its awe-inspiring best, overcoming its limitations and challenges, every player — indeed, the entire arena — experiences a brimming ecstasy that lifts the team even further. Success sparks joy. Joy fuels further success. Everyone is caught up in the moment.
Can the joy that is so apparent in championship athletics be replicated in business? Absolutely.
In any team environment, joy arises from a combination of harmony, impact, and acknowledgment — all of which business leaders can engender in their organizations.
Harmony. On winning teams, each player has a distinct role in achieving the goal.
Impact. Team harmony leads to impact, which further fuels joy. Even if the result is just a single sublime play or golden moment, the palpable joy of each teammate rises.
Acknowledgment. Great coaches instruct their players to, when they score, immediately point to the teammates who created the scoring opportunity.
This is a pattern rife with opportunity for business leaders.
Our survey findings further suggest that joy stems from believing one’s work is truly meaningful. Employees who believe their “company makes a positive societal contribution” and who feel “personally committed to achieving the company’s vision and strategy” experienced the most joy at work. In my industry, where almost 100% of newly recruited consultants are Millennials, providing an overarching purpose is critical to attracting and retaining great talent.
However, the survey also points to a pronounced “joy gap” at work. Nearly 90% of respondents said that they expect to experience a substantial degree of joy at work, yet only 37% report that such is their actual experience. Nor is this joy gap confined to any particular generational cohort. For Gen Xers and Millennials (the vast majority of our sample), the joy gap was 57% and 44%, respectively.
Business leaders tend to think a great deal about success, but rarely about joy. Chances are, few are even aware of the joy gap in their organization and the resulting lack of interpersonal connection and team aspiration. That must change.
Here are some specific steps leaders can take to increase joy at work:
Set the agenda. Make the experience of joy an explicit corporate purpose.
Set the stage. Staff your new digital/culture programs with true cross-unit, cross-silo teams, where joint teamwork delivers maximum impact, shared success, and fun.
Set the tone. Encourage and celebrate individual and corporate social impact efforts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s one thing to tell an interviewer you’re detail-oriented and work well with others — it’s another to show them. You can do that with you thank you note.
How to Write a Thank You Email After an Interview (with Examples)
https://hbr.org/2022/11/how-to-write-a-thank-you-email-after-an-interview?tpcc=orgsocial_edit&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3zvTm6gO5cXirKTtntwATBpAYrWV5J3lvwVWR5jGlB1jvxXtWjG-Nd9Dg_aem_05cH6Kg6V_q_NwRlmAZkqA