# Stupid Corporate Buzzword - 'Learnings' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912 "2011-06-09T22:06:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/21 "2011-06-10T21:49:54Z")
Back in my day, we didn’t have no such nonsense as “learnings”. We acquisitioned knowledge-wise and we liked it that way. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/22 "2011-06-10T22:11:59Z")
Decisioning? You’re freakin’ kidding, right? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/23 "2011-06-10T22:20:17Z")
_Creationizing_ gets a free pass but _decisioning_ rubs your rhubarb wrong? ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/24 "2011-06-11T06:05:05Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Decisioning? You’re freakin’ kidding, right? [Nope.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1120&bih=538&q=decisioning&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=) E[ven creationizing isn’t a **statsman1982** original.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&biw=1120&bih=538&q=creationizing&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=) ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/25 "2011-06-11T06:20:03Z")
**Statsman1982** , you’re doing lovely work here. Would you please slip _granularity_ and _interface with_ into your next screed? Those totally rub my rhubarb wrong. Thanks!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/26 "2011-06-11T06:24:49Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > I’m probably positioning myself as not being a team player. Let’s regroup. Language should be principle-centered, and the challenge I have with some individuals who choose to innovate the language is that they are missing the forest for the trees.We should be rightsizing the language, ensuring that the words we use are a strategic fit. The first action item for strategic realignment is the creationization of non-value-added terminology. Language should be lean and mean, and those of us who have adopted this strategic viewpoint tend to circle the wagons and engage with threads like this. The fact of the matter is that the commoditization of these words requires readers to go the extra mile to conceptualize the basic game plan behind them. Sometimes, it is a challenge that causes people to not all be on the same page. You are on target when you say that English is a language that is known for its disintermediation, which empowers its speakers and facilitates word initiatives. However, at the end of the day, knowledge transfer is at its most seamless when existing words are repurposed. > > In the run up to this thread, these language challenges were not on my radar. I only posted after decisioning that in the path forward, it would be a win-win if is spoke to my position on the issue. You know, just fyi. Fuck me but you’re \*good \*at this. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/27 "2011-06-11T13:26:29Z")
Just curious: has anybody sent this to Sarah yet? She could handle a **learning experience** without imploding. I would bank on it. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/28 "2011-06-11T13:56:36Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > True, but in a paradigm where stakeholders do not provide holistic constructive feedback loops or a 0-day full spectrum expertise matrix, how can we leverage best practices for a process-focused action, going forward ? What we need to do is fast-track a streamlined outside-of-the-box, no blame interface between capability centres to capitalize on existing result-driven initiatives. Can you translate this? Because I really can’t figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/29 "2011-06-11T16:47:01Z")
Methinks the poster **statsman1982** may be using a jargon generator found online. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/30 "2011-06-11T17:30:42Z")
> [@j66](#): > > Can you translate this? Because I really can’t figure it out. It doesn’t mean anything. That’s the beauty of it. If you really have to you could take it to mean “let’s talk about this later” or “I’ll check with my guys and get back to you on this”. But it’s really just meaningless drivel strung together at random. You know, management consulting. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/31 "2011-06-11T18:10:35Z")
My 50 cents: [ul] [li]I originally read “learnings” as “lemmings”[/li][li]Goddamn I’m glad I’m a bureaucrat and not a corporate drone[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/32 "2011-06-11T18:39:18Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > It doesn’t mean anything. That’s the beauty of it. I just hope I can remember this post the next time the issue of who said this in what movie comes up! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/33 "2011-06-11T23:21:49Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > It doesn’t mean anything. That’s the beauty of it. > > If you really have to you could take it to mean “let’s talk about this later” or “I’ll check with my guys and get back to you on this”. But it’s really just meaningless drivel strung together at random. You know, management consulting. That’s cheating! I thought it might mean "We need people to tell us what they need so we can improve, but I kept getting lost. It has to mean something for it to count, doesn’t it? Like statsman’s - which was absolute genuis. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/34 "2011-06-12T03:10:56Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > You know, a few years ago lots of folks on this board were complaining about using “google” as a verb. Really? Did a lot of people here complain about that? But that said, it’s simply not the same thing. “Google” as a verb carries a meaning that was not carried by any other word; “to seek information on the Internet using a search engine.” “Search” by itself isn’t the same thing. “Learnings” in the context described by the OP appears to be identical in meaning to “lessons.” Yes, language changes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t insist that it change in good and productive ways. The language adds a lot of perfectly good words every year, and changes the meaning of words, but in most cases it’s because a word fulfils a new purpose, bringing with it a new definition or nuance. But sometimes it just doesn’t. Corporate buzzspeak is rife with this shit. In many cases it’s just the overuse and expansion of a real word. “Paradigm” really took off in 1986 when Joel Barker began publishing books and videos about it; it was Le Shitte in management workshops for ten years and the term “paradigm” began to expand way past what it had meant just a few years before. It’s long since fallen out of favour, though, and today you’ll rarely see it used. At around the same time in business jargon some people simply would not use the word “use,” but insisted on “utilize.” That, too, is going away. So yeah, language changes - but sometimes it changes back because the change sucked. There’s no reason we HAVE to accept every new word that comes down the pike just because “well, hey, language changes.” Yes, and things cost money, too, but I don’t have to buy everything that’s for sale. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/35 "2011-06-12T04:05:59Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Yes, and things cost money, too, but I don’t have to buy everything that’s for sale. [/QUOTE] So, what was your spend on things last year? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/36 "2011-06-12T07:53:14Z")
damn, wanted to make a jargonized response about never rubbing another man’s rhubarb, apparently I need a reuptake on the learnings of corp/sales/moti speak ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/37 "2011-06-12T08:26:53Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > In order to maximize our value-added core competencies for our stakeholders, at the end of the day, we need to leverage our learnings by really pushing the envelope. Only through proactive collaborative synergy can we ensure that we are prioritizing properly. By touching base with our strategic partners on a frequent basis and tapping into their knowledge base, we can find those strategic gaps, recontextualize, and deliver best-in-class, mission-critical, user-centric solutions. God help me, I actually know what that all means. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/38 "2011-06-12T08:42:06Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > It doesn’t mean anything. That’s the beauty of it. > > If you really have to you could take it to mean “let’s talk about this later” or “I’ll check with my guys and get back to you on this”. But it’s really just meaningless drivel strung together at random. You know, management consulting. You think it’s nonsense but you speak wisdom inadvertently. > [@Kobal2](#): > > True, but in a paradigm where stakeholders do not provide holistic constructive feedback loops or a 0-day full spectrum expertise matrix, how can we leverage best practices for a process-focused action, going forward ? What we need to do is fast-track a streamlined outside-of-the-box, no blame interface between capability centres to capitalize on existing result-driven initiatives. True, but in a situation where people who are affected by or have responsibility for the project don’t think about the entire situation - and let the people who are running the project know their thoughts, or indeed examine the skills of the people involved with the project in order to avoid problems at the time of its release - how can we take advantage of the best ways of working within the rules of the project in the future? What we need to do is give high priority to simple, innovative communication methods between different parts of the company with different abilities that allow people to speak freely without fear of being held accountable for inevitable mistakes, in order to make the most of the projects we’re working on that are currently productive. Makes perfect sense. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/39 "2011-06-12T13:26:22Z")
It’s very simple. For some reason, corporate America has decided that they sound more intelligent if you turn nouns into verbs and verbs into nouns. Probably because it forces you to make the rest of the sentence much longer and more awkward, therby making you harder to understand and thus more intelligent than the people who don’t understand you. One does not “learn something”, they “aquire learnings”. One does not “ask for something”, then “they ask what is the ask on this?”. Language doesn’t “change”, it “experiences changeings”. I’ve found that if you wear a $1000 Brooks Brothers suit, have a bunch of fancy degrees from well known schools, represent a big company that is supposed to be full of smart people and speak in a pompous and authorative manner, people who have been doing their job for ten years will assume you know more than they do about how they should do it. > [@Kobal2](#): > > It doesn’t mean anything. That’s the beauty of it. > > If you really have to you could take it to mean “let’s talk about this later” or “I’ll check with my guys and get back to you on this”. But it’s really just meaningless drivel strung together at random. You know, management consulting. I think you mean “lets take that offline”. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912/40 "2011-06-12T13:42:16Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’ve found that if you wear a $1000 Brooks Brothers suit, have a bunch of fancy degrees from well known schools, represent a big company that is supposed to be full of smart people and speak in a pompous and authorative manner, people who have been doing their job for ten years will assume you know more than they do about how they should do it. I’m not really sure that is the prevalent thinking among the crowd. I mean, by now, everyone knows that none of the top consulting companies simply do not bring any quantifiable value to any new business/technology initiative. Just about now I’m working on a high-profile risk technology project at a top financial institution where head of a certain business unit has brought in one of those consulting companies to “show us the way”. Internally, it is being totally laughed out as a complete and utter waste of time and money. Yet, situations like this persist and people are being dragged into that without ever being asked or explained. They’ve been around for about 2 months and other than lingo cr\*p there is no single idea they formulated that will contribute in a identifiable manner. Simply none. In fact, I had to dispel a lot of misconceptions on what exactly they will do to move our program forward (which is nothing) and some of these guys have been around for years. My guess is that also some people just take as a fact of corporate life and go along with it even though they probably think we could do on own just fine. I wonder only who has the ba\*\*l to tell that to the head of the unit who is their biggest fan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-corporate-buzzword-learnings/584912.md?page=3)