The subtleties of corporate English
Dec 8th 2010, 16:56 by G.L. | NEW YORK
MY only excuse for failing to produce any Johnsonia during R.L.G.'s absence last week is that I've been very busy on a new business venture here at The Economist—of which I can say little, except that it involves one hecka lot of meetings. And so I've been more exposed than usual to business English and its peculiar phrases. These could be explained simply as cultural markers of the business tribe, but I suspect each one contains its own subtle cues and subtext; herewith my attempts to speculate on their origins and meaning.
Reach out
Usage: R.L.G. griped about this one a while back, but it's not just PR people who use it. Among the people I work with, at least, "I'll reach out to Joe" seems to have almost entirely replaced "I'll contact Joe" and "I'll talk to Joe".
Source: I don't know—an inversion of what used to be called public relations, propaganda or proselytism and is now called "outreach", perhaps? Or else an inexplicable Motown reference?
Subtext: The phrase implies an added effort, a stretch beyond the normal, and the subtext usually seems to be either "I'll do Joe the grudging favour of asking his opinion even though he wouldn't normally get half a look into what we're doing", or "I'll take the risk of asking Joe for his advice even though he's probably far too busy and probably sees our project as a threat to his entire existence". A little less cynically, one might argue that "reach out" should in fact be considered a distinct phrasal verb meaning "to talk to someone outside one's normal circle of contacts".
As an aside, though, I will note that another of the phrases "reach out" seems to be displacing in business-speak is "get in touch with", which seems normal to us now but was probably decried as a barbarity in its day. (Its original meaning, says the OED, is the one that signifies being aware or informed, eg, "to be in touch with public opinion").
Touch base
Usage: "Let's touch base tomorrow" means "let's talk tomorrow". Unlike "contact" and "talk to", though
"touch base" doesn't seem to have been eclipsed by "reach out".
Source: Baseball, I presume, which may explain its resilience in a country that loves sporting metaphors. Yet if so the metaphor is strangely inept, given that in the sport, "touching base" is a solitary, win-lose action: the runner and the fielder vie to touch base first. In this case, by contrast, touching base means collaborating.
Subtext: The word "touch" lends an air of lightness and brevity: "touching base" implies a quick conversation, a reassurance that you won't take up too much of someone's time, whereas "reaching out" doesn't. It also implies informality. I would venture that the dictionary definition of "to touch base" should be "to hold a meeting that does not require any of the parties to check calendar availability on their BlackBerrys".
To your point
Usage: It's terribly important, at least in American business meetings, to be constantly acknowledging the contributions other people have made, so that everybody feels included. But instead of "as you said" or "as Jane mentioned", it's "to your point" or "to Jane's point".
Source: No real mystery here: it's the common phrase "make a point". But I think this is a clue to the real meaning, which is...
Subtext: Since it's possible—oh, so possible—to say a lot at a meeting without making any points at all, saying "to Jane's point" is, in the continuing spirit of positivity and good team relations, a way to bestow even greater recognition upon Jane's contribution. After all, if something is worthless, we say it "has no point", and business documents are all in bullet points. So I will posit that a "point" is now actually a discrete unit of measurement (soon to be adopted under the Système International) for useful contributions. Kilopoints, megapoints, nanopoints et alia all to follow, just as soon as someone has invented the measuring tools.
Going forward
Usage: A favourite disfavourite of mine, this notionally means "from now on", but often just signifies "now" and is just as often totally redundant:
I am pleased to announced that I have nominated Kiyasha Gonzalez-Guggenheim to be our new head of meatball packaging going forward.or
Kiyasha's contribution will be particularly valuable in ensuring that all our customers have a consistent and satisfying meatball presentation experience going forward.Source: Not a clue.
Real meaning: Again, as with "to your point", this is all about having the right attitude. In business it is good to look to the future; one of the most damning subtle indictments you can make of ideas or people is that they are "not forward-looking". Reminding everyone that we are, indeed, going forward and not moving backward is essential in boosting morale. This is especially true after cataclysmic setbacks:
“Our charge going forward is to have realistic, clear goals and to execute them expeditiously.” (New Orleans deputy mayor Cedric Grant, after Hurricane Katrina).(And by the way—I look forward to "execute expeditiously" becoming widespread enough, going forward, to include on a future version of this list.)
I do note in passing that last year some people set up an entire website devoted to purging their organisation of the phrase "going forward", and reported some success. But in the wider world it seems very much alive.
Deep(er) dive
Usage: To take a close or closer look: "I'll do a deeper dive on those figures on Monday."
Source: Umm... diving.
Subtext: There's something athletic, soulful even, about the thought of physically diving into a spreadsheet, kicking around in its dusky deep columns, paddling lazily through the surf of numbers, digging for hidden gems among its pivot tables, and coming up for air gasping but ecstatic, with the decimal points cascading down your forehead. It could be a subtle signal to colleagues of the effort you are about to make as you hold your breath and plunge into the numbers. Or maybe it's nothing more than an attempt to romanticise to yourself what is otherwise a soul-deadening activity.
Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/12/business_clich%C3%A9s
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