Don't 'punch the puppy'

Jargon-heavy management bluster is taking over everyday office chat

Shyamal Majumdar 

Shyamal Majumdar

Company X got a big order from one of its valued partners, but the catch was that the order had to be executed in just a week. The marketing director called an urgent meeting to figure out how the company could deliver this.

After other heads of departments had their say, attention shifted to the production head. The gentleman was cryptic in his response: “We just can’t boil the ocean.” Very few knew what this meant and the marketing director requested him to be direct and clear. The answer was even more confusing: “Don’t try to throw me under the bus, ...

First Published: Fri, June 01 2018. 06:00 IST