When The Weekend asked listeners to send us the words they didn't want to hear; the correspondence kept coming. 'Learnings' came in as a strong contender of a word people didn't want to hear, as did the phrase 'going forward'. A highlight was an email/poem from Max Reid in Dunedin that delved into policy-speak:
As an early adopter of policy-speak
some words of advice I would proffer:
make the low-hanging fruit your priority one -
seek the easiest win that's on offer.
Ask of each other, 'Who moved my cheese?'
(as importantly, ask oneself, 'How?')
Get your positive, lean thinking hat out (and on),
or feel free to just park that for now.
'Degrees of uniqueness' might make little sense
but one must be across these as well.
Don't sit on the fence, draw a line in the sand,
get your hard data ready to sell.
Get with the programme, incentivise too;
practice mindfulness, yoga, tai chi.
And fast followers know that for business to grow
you may need a bespoke strategy.
Identify champions - they're vital in this;
they quell what resisters can do.
Back to back, bottom up, belt and braces as well -
these all serve to value add too.
Build up your resilience, keep your end game in sight
get all of your ducks in a line.
Be end-user focussed, let your goal be your locus
And everything should turn out fine.
Let a green-fields approach and some good blue sky thinking
inform your SWOT and your scan.
Then sit back with your toolbox, hub huddle your team
and instruct them to get with the plan.
None of which ever can ensure success -
resistance will always be had.
In which case the best case scenario is
to leave - with a cry of "My bad."
