Jargon

a metaphorical and dimensionless measure of the confusion, ambiguity, or lack of information that characterizes a situation, as in “All the turmoil in the markets means we’ll have a really high fog index around our sales projections”; this jargon superficially…

a phrase describing an action that must be executed quickly and accurately in the face of circumstances that cannot be forestalled; generally used in extremis, as in “Our competitor is releasing next week so we have no choice but to…

an assertion or imperative cloaked in the guise of an innocuous question, thus allowing a speaker to soften the impact of his actual statement, as in “Will you launch the product next Tuesday after I submit the approvals we discussed?”;…

a term from finance that is misused to indicate variance, as in “There shouldn’t be much beta on that product’s month-to-month sales”; this is subtly but significantly incorrect, as beta is technically a measure of covariance, showing how an asset’s…

an achievement that requires minor effort to complete and results in benefits that are usually small yet still meaningful, as in “For Phase 1 of the project let’s make sure we focus on quick wins, we need to prove the…

operating in a less glamorous or aggressive way, focused on fundamentals and aiming at steady, methodical progress instead of flashier goals, as in “I know this new sales strategy sounds like small ball, but that’s how we win in the…

to use a purportedly neutral moderation role to deftly steer a process to some desired outcome, thus combining facilitation with manipulation, as in “That was some masterful facipulation in the strategy workshop, he knew exactly where the brainstorming would end…

to raise concerns in dramatic fashion in hopes of averting significant negative outcomes, as in “Our donor metrics have all been trending down for the past four quarters and management just isn’t getting it, we need to pull the fire…

a high-level estimate intended to be a reasonable approximation upon which decisions or further work can be based, drawing on the notion that a grenade need only be in the vicinity of its intended target to be effective, given its…

a condition in which modifications remain possible, as with cement that has yet to fully harden; used to indicate flexibility or the opportunity to provide substantial input, as in “We can still change the report structure if we need to,…