1. In conference call bingo, where you check off business words that will inevitably show up on the call, what word/term do you despise the most?
Synchronizing synergies (I actually heard this week, but I don’t even know what it means)
2. In journalism/political speaking, what is a term/word people get wrong all the time?
The role and powers of the US Vice President. The constitution does not provide detailed roles and responsibilities for this person, so they kind of roll their own.
3. What’s an emerging technology that will probably make the world a worse place to live in once it’s perfected?
Encrypted data chain tech like that behind BitCurrency is probably the best option. So many people really want it to work, but it is nebulous and prone to fraud and scams. I’ve read a few books and dozens of articles on the tech, and it scares me.
4. What is something you detested as a child but like now as an adult?
Asparagus. To be fair, growing up in the sixties and seventies, most vegetables were overcooked, canned, or frozen and flavorless. But while traveling in France, I ordered an asparagus omelet at a truck stop diner (or the French version therein), and it was so delightful and yummy that it changed my entire world order.
5. How would you spend $50,000 in 1 hour?
Buy a car. Go to the car leasing agent and tell him, “Hi, here is $50,000. Get me something nice.”
1. I have often said that the business world is where B- students congregate. My current most-hated word is the use of “ask” as a noun. It is a transitive OR intransitive VERB. Not a NOUN. The noun form is from borrowed from British slang, and it just tells the world, “LOOK AT ME! I’M WHITE AND ILL EDUCATED.”
2. Bureaucracy. These are simply the employees who run the government. Some are efficient, many are not (AHEM to EVERYONE who works in the Webb Building). Many people have zero idea what the word means, and have weaponized it.
3. AI. I have studied iterative AI off and on for decades. I do not understand generative / big data AI models. In fact, very few people do. The generative tools are causing huge problems already and it will only get worse. For example, pricing data is being analyzed and manipulated every millisecond. If things seem expensive–you can thank AI.
4. Cruciferous vegetables. Love ’em all. In all fairness, kids have far more taste buds than adults so they are fussier.
5. I’ve got my eye on a used Bentley. “Can we close this deal in less than an hour? I brought cash.”
1) Never been on a conference call, but the catch word that drives me crazy is when bosses use the term synergistic.
2) Democracy. Too many people don’t know what that word actually means.
3) The self driving car.
4) Quiet time and naps.
5) Send it straight to my student loans. Boom gone!