Beware those who use language to hide, not to clarify…
The company hired me to lead their "Agile Transformation."
I don't know what Agile means.
Nobody does.
That's why it works.I make $425,000 a year.
To move sticky notes.
From left to right.
On a board.
The board is digital now.
The sticky notes cost $80,000 in Jira licenses.…— Peter Girnus ? (@gothburz) December 21, 2025
This is ChatGPT’s take on some of the issues with “MBA-speak”.
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Corporate language, or “MBA-speak,” creates several problems.
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Lack of clarity.
Phrases like “leveraging synergies” or “moving the needle” hide meaning instead of revealing it. You end up with fog, not focus. -
Evasion of responsibility.
Terms like “right-sizing” or “human capital adjustment” disguise layoffs. It lets people avoid saying what’s really happening. -
Loss of trust.
When staff or the public hear jargon instead of plain talk, they assume you’re hiding something. Credibility drops fast. -
Groupthink.
Everyone repeats the same buzzwords. Real ideas get crowded out by slogans. Creativity and dissent shrink. -
Wasted time.
Meetings and reports fill up with filler words that add no value. People spend more time decoding than deciding. -
Dehumanization.
Talking about “resources” instead of “people” erases humanity. It makes it easier to treat workers like numbers. -
Barrier to understanding.
Plain language connects across roles and skill levels. MBA-speak creates insiders and outsiders.
You get better results when you speak simply, name problems directly, and use verbs that describe action instead of pretending to.
(To put it bluntly, someone once said that “MBA Speak” is what comes out when MBA’s masturbate!”) 😮