The encroachment of management speak into everyday life and how to deal with it

A story covered by the BBC News web-site today looks at how the business agenda has all but smothered formal education.

For example, instead of education establishments being assessed on the basis of teaching as an art or discipline, education establishments are increasingly judged on 'delivery', 'performance indicators', quantitative 'audits', 'effeciency gains', 'funding systems that respond to customer demand', etc., etc...

At the heart of the article is a Professor Pring, the lead author of a report, published this week by the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training, which looks at how the aims and values of education have come to be "dominated by the language of management".

Education is by no means a unique situation, and Orwellian-like speak is evident in nearly every domain of modern life.

So how should we respond to these threats (if you see it as threat)?

Well, for one, find the time to challenge anyone and everyone who uses the 'market forces' argument for the most basic dilemma!

For more details see Lesson one: no Orwellian language by Mike Baker.

Counter jargon

The other day I commented on some survey findings about 'management speak' and 'jargon' and how readers of the BBC website had inundated one of their forums on the said subject.

The next day the BBC ran an article on what was said in the forum - some of which could be referred to as 'counter jargon', or employees coming up with phrases to mock or undermine management speak and jargon. See if you can guess what the following counter jargon means before visitng the actual article - Let's help to herd the dinosaurs (Claire Heald, BBC News: Magazine).

1) red sky thinking
2) horizoning
3) workspace-specific perceptual abstraction
4) non-specific interfacing
5) activity deficit substitution

There is also an interesting article in The Scotsman today on the matter of management speak and jargon - it lists 30 such sayings and their supposed 'true meaning' - Why can't we say what we mean? (Jim Gilchrist).

Management jargon

Investors in People (IiP) released some interesting findings today on the effects of management jargon on the workforce.

It is claimed that the overuse of jargon or management speak - such as, 'think outside the box', 'the helicopter view', the 'thumbs down' - is a problem for employees.

The problems arise because employees believe managers who use jargon are untrustworthy and trying to cover things up. It is also said to create misunderstandings and make workers feel inadequate.

Further findings suggest:

- Employees are more likely to experience jargon in larger organisations than smaller ones: fewer than one in five (19 per cent) of people in organisations of 2-49 employees say jargon is used at their workplace while two thirds(65 per cent) of people in organisations with 5,000 or more employees say it is used where they work

- 52 per cent of people in large organisations (1,000+ employees) say use of jargon is increasing, compared to just under a quarter (24 per cent) in small organisations (2-49 employees)

- The use of management jargon is higher than average in local government, where well over half (56 per cent) say it is used in their workplace, compared to just over a quarter (27 per cent) in the retail sector and just over a third (35 per cent) in the construction sector.

For more details see a press release from the IiP.

The BBC has also picked up on this story and has started a 'Have your say' on the matter. The subject of management speak has clearly struck a chord with BBC website readers as there are hundreds of comments on the matter. See here for more details.