| Management
Speak |
Translation |
| That's very
interesting. |
I disagree. |
| I don't
disagree. |
I disagree. |
| I don't
totally disagree with you. |
You may be
right, but I don't care. |
| You have to
show some flexibility. |
You have to
do it whether you want to or not. |
| We have an
opportunity. |
You have a
problem. |
| You
obviously put a lot of work into this. |
This is
awful. |
| In a
perfect world. |
Just get it
working and get it out the door. |
| Help me to
understand. |
I don't
know what you're talking about, and I don't
think you do either. |
| You just
don't understand our business. |
We don't
understand our business. |
| You need to
see the big picture. |
My boss
thinks it's a good idea. |
| We're going
to follow a strict methodology here. |
We're going
to do it my way. |
| I didn't
understand the e-mail you said you sent. Can
you give me a quick summary? |
I still
can't figure out how to start the e-mail
program. |
| Cost of
ownership has become a significant issue in
desktop computing. |
We want all
of the benefits and none of the costs. |
| We have to
leverage our resources. |
You're
working weekends. |
| Individual
contributor. |
Employee
who does real work. |
| Your
project is on hold. |
We've put a
bullet in it. |
| Wrong
answer. |
You didn't
tell me what I wanted to hear. |
| You needed
to be more proactive. |
You should
have protected me from myself. |
| I'd like
your buy-in on this. |
I want
someone else to blame when this thing bombs. |
| We want you
to be the executive champion of this project. |
I want to
be able to blame you for my mistakes. |
| We need to
syndicate this decision. |
We need to
spread the blame if it backfires. |
| We have to
put on our marketing hats. |
We have to
put ethics aside. |
| It's not
possible. It's impractical. It won't work. |
I don't
know how to do it. |
| It's a no-brainer. |
It's a
perfect decision for me to handle. |
| I'm glad
you asked me that. |
Public
relations has written a carefully phrased
answer. |
| I see you
involved your peers in developing your
proposal. |
One person
couldn't possibly come up with something this
stupid. |
| There are
larger issues at stake. |
I've made
up my mind so don't bother me with the facts. |
| I'll never
lie to you. |
The truth
will change frequently. |
| Our
business is going through a paradigm shift. |
We have no
idea what we've been doing, but in the future
we shall do something completely different. |
| Value-added. |
Expensive. |
| Human
Resources. |
A bulk
commodity, like lentils or cinder blocks. |
| The
upcoming reductions will benefit the vast
majority of employees. |
The
upcoming reductions will benefit me. |
