ManagementSpeak: That’s a really good question.

Translation: I knew someone was going to ask that. Here’s my prepared non-answer.

Alternative translation: Uh …

Geoff Hazel joins the KJR Club with this prepared answer.

Qualifiers are for lawyers, not writers.

“In the absence of exogenous factors it’s generally true that 2 + 2 = 4. Notwithstanding the above, accepted mathematics applies except when unforeseen circumstances lead to different conclusions,” is, to be charitable, ungraceful.

When accuracy and good writing collide, though, accuracy should win. It didn’t in last week’s column on ITIL and The Cloud. I erred on the side of good writing, leaving out a necessary qualifier.