ManagementSpeak: We’ll meet to discuss alternate ways to approach the problem.
Translation: I don’t want to look like a dictator, so we’ll discuss the alternatives before choosing the decision I’ve already made.
Karen Gayda chose to join the KJR Club by sending in this choice phrase.
Hierarchical decision-making is rooted in levels of authority, not in depth of expertise and specific knowledge of the situation.
It isn’t entirely foolish, either: Presumably, those higher in the hierarchy (which might be a pun but I doubt it) are there because in the past they demonstrated leadership and good judgment in their areas of responsibility.
The world changes faster, though and the detailed knowledge needed to handle a responsibility increases. The result: Those with the proper authority to make a decision are, to an ever greater extent, insulated from both the knowledge and the information necessary to make it well, let alone fast enough for it to be useful.
