"Jaagran" with jargon

This one is for the uninitiated, for the novices and amateurs entering the corporate world for the first time, who would have had very little exposure to the multitude of fancy expressions and words to describe seemingly "simple" concepts. You need not have a night out to master them (pardon me, Mr.Collins*, no "jaagran"** required).

Get familiar.... and fast... with such vocabulary, if you want to keep pace with the language of the modern corporate honchos, gladiators, warriors, conspirators, altruists, peacemakers, loyal citizens and the minions. Or else you may end up groping in the dark for a suitable dictionary. Of course, Google is always around to help.

Below is a list, not exhaustive though, (and not in alphabetical order) of expressions, phrases and words that seemingly are the lexicon in today's corporate canvas.

1. Synergy (one plus one gives more than two; you are likely to hear this term bandied about during mergers & acquisitions and in teamwork/collaboration-related training programs)
2. Right-sizing (jobs, roles or positions eliminated, during the restructuring of companies, especially during global or hyperlocal recessions which could be either real or imagined)
3. Cutting-edge (most advanced and sophisticated, the term being usually used w.r.t. science and technology; some people get "edgy" when they hear this term, "cutting" into their insecurities)
4. Deep-dive (get into details and intricacies of a subject; generally used in meetings after the context is set around a topic that has data elements or multiple issues and elements to be discussed....;usually followed by extensive spreadsheets, complex graphs and power-point slides)
5. Delta (difference or quantum of change between A and B, and generally, it is an absolute number.....and also the name of an airline)
6. Low-hanging fruit (something that is relatively easy in terms of availability or it is more easily doable, where the hurdles, barriers and obstacles are not so challenging; you may recall the tale of the proverbial fox where the apparently inaccessible "low-hanging" fruit led to the expression - "Grapes are sour!")
7. Holistic (all-round total view of a problem/ issue from several angles taken together. How that outcome pans out after you integrate all the several angles in your mind is another issue altogether. If you feel confused after attempting a "holistic" view on any issue, I don't blame you.)
8. Perspective (seasoned or refined point of view; the terms "holistic" and "perspective" are often combined to result in the use of "holistic perspective" and I leave it to your own imagination of what the combined entity could mean, especially when you try to develop "holistic perspectives")
9. Drill-down (related to "deep-dive", when you want to dig into the tiniest of details of a subject by asking probing questions; usually employed as a technique in meetings or discussions where data is being analyzed to bits, again with excel spreadsheets)
10. Granular (related to "drill-down"; when you "drill-down" in a topic, you may ultimately end up with pieces of data that are not reducible any more. Remember doing Least-Common-Multiple - LCM- exercises in your school mathematics class?)
11. Ecosystem (a loosely defined environment or a system with an invisible boundary within which parts and elements interact, resembling a large joint family that is widely dispersed in an imaginary mansion without walls, but connected; you may be transported back to your school biology class when you hear this word)
12. On the same page (a phrase to mean that we think alike on an issue and agree on the core of a decision or viewpoint; in other words, sharing the same "perspective"; can also mean that we are "on the same wavelength" on an issue, mentally speaking)
13. Bandwidth (earlier, as children, we used to hear this term from a technical standpoint when people spoke about radios and radio-frequencies [e.g. AM, FM etc.]; today in the corporate world, it means lack of resources, time, money or one or more of these in combination, ostensibly used to justify why a job cannot be done)
14. Ballpark (nearest approximate to be used as a reference; an estimate in other words. For example, managers needing information urgently may ask for a "ballpark" figure to pass on to their bosses or to others)
15. Optics (nothing to do with spectacles or optical instruments; more to do with how others will perceive any situation, people, outcomes of a decision or the process by which it is made in an organization; usually a concern for "teflon" managers and cautious decision-makers in organizations)

Many more such words and phrases dot the corporate ecosystem, and perhaps the list can run into pages. But neither do I have the bandwidth to get all of them in here, nor do I wish to risk mentioning a ballpark around their number. I hope we can be on the same page for me to conclude this article, without doing a deep dive. My idea was to give you a holistic overview of corporate jargon, and not get granular. I am also uncertain about the optics around this article at this point.......you do get the drift, don't you?

*Phil Collins : an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later lead singer of the rock band "Genesis" and also has a career as a solo performer. His famous solo album ("No jacket required") is an all-time musical hit.

** Jaagran : a word in Hindi that means staying awake all night.

Note:?The above article/post, with its contents is the personal view of the author, expressed purely in his personal capacity and is not related to any specific existing organization, institution, group or individual. Any such perceived resemblance or derived linkage or relationship as such is purely coincidental and unintended.