Divide the Nature of the Thought
Tuesday
05.13.08
From “the nature of the beast” to “just a thought”, pointless phrases infect nearly every agency and business I’ve worked with. These terms, which are often spat out without any consideration of context or effectiveness are becoming equal to filler words such as “Umm” or “insert four letter word.” They have their uses, but I would argue they expired fifty years ago when they were already becoming tired and stale.
It’s troubling that constructive conversations and debate that leads to successful solutions has been replaced by whichever catch phrase lands closest to the issue at hand. When you run into a problem in delegation, simply divide and conquer. When having trouble coming to a conclusion simply get on the same page. By far the most embarrassing of these, when delivering an idea that you have a lack of confidence in make sure it is just a thought. Many years ago when I was a slave to a national sign company, the coined term was nature of the beast. Anytime that phrase was tossed out it was immediately translated into one of three things; the owner bid a job way too low, the boss’s son had made a big mistake, or you’re going to be working on Sunday—all of which suck.
I would normally attribute these types of easy fallbacks as laziness but in this instance I don’t believe that to be so. It’s more representative of a default, much as a politician dodges tough issues, directors dodge tough circumstances. A lack of dedication toward the cause leads people to accept an unacceptable decision without giving it their best effort. Eventually every discussion will consist of shouting one liners back and forth.
Just a thought.
