A perfectly logical process designed to measure the levels of credibility and respect that corporate leaders engender in their employees, in addition to the reverse. Usually implemented in a way that includes extreme upward message dilution, which result… more »

The poorly-understood process of optimizing a corporate culture so that people of widely differing backgrounds and value systems can collaborate effectively to enhance the corporation. Because it is believed that all employees are intrinsically open-mind… more »

1. A word used by Human Resources in an attempt to explain why most employees are underpaid, as in "we believe our salaries are competitive". This can be translated as "we pay lower salaries than the competition, which makes us smarter". 2. A word that… more »

A game of long duration, reputedly named thus because all of the other four-letter words were already taken. Often used by senior leaders as a mechanism for avoiding communication with colleagues, schmoozing, negotiating business deals, meeting famous pe… more »

A substitute for reality in intellectually deficient or dysfunctional corporations. more »

An employee who is not listed on any project team roster, does not attend team meetings, and is otherwise invisible until a crisis occurs, at which time all questions about who might be responsible for issues can be answered with the response "Nobody". more »

The magical process whereby a project known by all its team members to be in major trouble and headed for disaster is reported to senior leadership as being "on schedule", "within budget", and "in great shape". As the reports on the project status rise i… more »

(1) a form of communication where employees communicate upwards to leaders, and leaders listen and act on the communication. (2) the normal seating position adopted by a corporate asshole. more »

A much-repeated unidirectional communication offering, usually long on GMHAP and short on detail, which seeks to immediately and positively energize a large audience. Usually given by a CEO or other senior leader to an audience that has been told to atte… more »

The initially incomprehensible process by which a failing leader is promoted to an important-sounding role such as "Manager, Special Projects" only to depart the corporation a few months later. What is not revealed is that their new role is one devoid of… more »

Information that is never shown on an organizational chart, often revealing who actually does the work, where power lies, and how employees are actually rewarded. more »

The new approach to awarding raises in many modern corporations, whereby the employee is expected to work year on year with no raises in order to "safeguard the future of the corporation", "help with cost containment", (insert further grand-sounding disg… more »

The process of washing all corporate news and communications of any negativity or contentiousness. The resulting communication is invariably soporific and sometimes far removed from reality. more »

The process of selecting the most-qualified individuals from a pool of applicants to work within a corporation. Presented as a rigorous, objective process, in many corporations it is considerably less effective than selection based on throwing darts at a… more »

The current gold standard for modern American corporate malfeasance. Shorthand for the practices, encouraged by ethically-deficient leadership, of rigging markets, manipulating accounting results, and committing various other felonies and misdemeanours. more »

The outcome of a project which (in various combinations) is poorly researched, planned, or executed. As has been the case throughout recorded history, not all voyages of discovery have happy endings. more »

An empty, reflexive and perjorative slogan used by mediocre leaders to slander employees who raise valid objections to proposals, ideas, actions or strategy proposed by leaders, and refuse to back down when the objections are not addressed by the leaders… more »

A concept of corporate measurement, more honored in the breach than the observance, whereby employees are rewarded for their actual performance, instead of their claimed performance, somebody else's performance, and/or other irrelevant attributes such as… more »

The overall tone and content of a leadership document, presentation or other form of communication, containing phrases that initially sound stirring and uplifting, but which in reality are culled from the Tired Cliché Dictionary. Examples are "world-clas… more »

A sum of money allocated to a project, subject to perpetual increase until the project delivers percieved results or is abandoned,. more »

An old-fashioned process, involving the use of equally old-fashioned devices such as rhetoric, whereby an idea, proposition or proposal is fashioned into a compelling Case For Action by the careful use of supporting information, facts and justifications.… more »

A condition (strangely temporary in many cases) whereby employees and leaders in corporations, and elected representatives and officials in government, are suddenly unable to remember important facts, details of conversations, decisions etc. when asked t… more »