THE WORST CORPORATE BUZZWORD

Kate Cray, a writer for The Atlantic magazine, set out to find the Most Annoying Corporate Buzzword. She collected a bunch of buzzwords and decided to use a bracket-style elimination, like March Madness NCAA brackets, and asked her readers to vote. Some of the matchups and winners:
– Loop in v. Disruption: WINNER – Loop in
– Think outside the box v. Holistic approach: WINNER – Holistic approach
– Lean in v. Double click: WINNER – Lean in
– Value added v. Value proposition: WINNER – Value proposition
– Pivot v. Align: WINNER – Pivot
– Touch base v. Circle back: WINNER – Circle back
– Silo v. Optics: WINNER – Silo
– Deep dive v. Robust: WINNER – Deep dive
You get the idea. In the end, the final two were “Lean in” vs. “Value proposition”. And the winner of Most Annoying Corporate Buzzword? Lean In.
* Corporate buzzwords are the viral pandemic of industry. They spread everywhere, and you want to avoid anyone who uses them.
* Thank God there aren’t going to be many corporations left after this to keep using these.
* It’s like the adult version of kids using annoying slang like “stussy” and “clap back” and “lit”.
* I’m getting pretty tired of “We’re here for you” and “We’re all in this together.”
* I might have more to say about this, but for now, let’s put a pin in it.