\n<\/p>\n
By Mike Oates<\/p>\n
Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time in meetings\u2014whether in conference rooms in Poughkeepsie, boardrooms in White Plains, or even a diner booth in Kingston that served as an unexpected strategy meeting. Throughout this journey, I’ve noticed that the business world often uses its own special language. This lingo can sound fancy, feel productive, and sometimes, just not mean much at all.<\/p>\n
In the spirit of sharing useful insights, I\u2019d like to present a simple guide to some common business phrases.<\/p>\n
Let’s kick things off with a popular phrase: \u201cthinking outside the box.\u201d<\/strong> In my experience, I\u2019ve never actually seen this box everyone talks about. Still, we always hear that we should think outside of it. It makes me wonder who put us in there in the first place! I suspect the box represents a conference room. If you really want to think creatively, go talk to a customer instead.<\/p>\n Next up is \u201cLet\u2019s blue-sky it.\u201d<\/strong> This signals that we’re about to have a free-flowing discussion with no specific budget or deadline\u2014kind of like a snow day for business. These conversations can be fun until someone inevitably asks, \u201cWho\u2019s going to handle this?\u201d Then, you can almost hear the clouds roll in as everyone shifts uncomfortably in their seats.<\/p>\n Another common phrase is \u201cHow do we scale it?\u201d<\/strong> This often comes up when discussing ideas that aren’t fully developed yet. Scaling may sound great, but it\u2019s usually the last step. The first steps involve satisfying one customer at a time and learning along the way.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s take this offline.\u201d<\/strong> This means the current topic isn\u2019t going smoothly and we should discuss it later, likely somewhere else. It’s similar to saying, \u201cLet\u2019s put a pin in it,\u201d<\/strong> which is where good ideas tend to fade into the background.<\/p>\n How about \u201ccircle back?\u201d<\/strong> That\u2019s a phrase I\u2019ve been hearing for years. I guess I enjoy the view from this continuous loop!<\/p>\n And let’s not forget about \u201clow-hanging fruit.\u201d<\/strong> Everyone aims for it, but in reality, it’s never really there. By the time someone mentions it, that fruit has already been picked and enjoyed. Similarly, there\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s not boil the ocean,\u201d<\/strong> which is good advice, although I\u2019ve never met anyone actually planning to do that.<\/p>\n We also have what I refer to as the lightning round of jargon: \u201csynergy,\u201d \u201cbandwidth,\u201d \u201cmove the needle,\u201d \u201cdeep dive,\u201d \u201cbest practices,\u201d \u201cpivot,\u201d \u201cdisrupt,\u201d<\/strong> and more. Phrases like \u201cping me\u201d<\/strong> or \u201crun it up the flagpole\u201d<\/strong> seem to pop up frequently. And of course, there’s \u201cit is what it is,\u201d<\/strong> which may be the only phrase about time that is completely accurate when it says \u201cgoing forward.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n One of my favorites is \u201cLet\u2019s unpack that,\u201d<\/strong> which I think means, \u201cI\u2019d like you to take a moment to speak!\u201d<\/p>\n Now, I should admit\u2014I use these phrases too. I probably say \u201ccircle back\u201d<\/strong> at least once a week. Some of these terms effectively shorten long explanations, and I’d bet that many readers have said something similar today. However, while jargon can be harmless, it becomes a problem when we confuse the language with real progress.<\/p>\n In observing businesses across the Hudson Valley\u2014from family-run manufacturers in Orange County to life-science startups in Westchester to farms in Columbia County\u2014it’s clear that no one has ever paid payroll through fancy jargon.<\/p>\n Successful businesses here focus on practical actions. They know their numbers before entering the bank, they make those extra calls, and they personally train new hires rather than just handing them a packet. When they innovate, it\u2019s not through grand plans; it\u2019s often because someone noticed a customer need and addressed it. It might be a shop owner making a product that people have been requesting or a machinist researching a previously unserved supply chain. In the real world, creativity often comes in work boots.<\/p>\n These businesses have a strong focus on results\u2014measuring success by whether they shipped a product, whether a customer returns, or if they made payroll on time. Those are the real indicators of progress.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what makes the Hudson Valley a wonderful place to start a business. We have excellent colleges, a growing regional airport, and proximity to one of the biggest markets in the nation. Our culture still values hard work over empty talk. Our employees show up, our managers pitch in, and our entrepreneurs tend to be skeptical of anyone using jargon excessively.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s a simple proposal: Keep the jargon if you like, but make sure it leads to action. When you say \u201clet\u2019s circle back,\u201d<\/strong> actually do that. Before you talk about scaling something, ensure it works on a small scale first. End every blue-sky meeting with assigned tasks and deadlines. And if someone tells you to think outside the box, consider stepping outside the office instead\u2014the customers are out there, and they have the answers.<\/p>\n In the end, the business world is not about catchy phrases. It\u2019s about hard work, planning, true creativity, and tangible results. The Hudson Valley has all of these in spades, so let\u2019s take full advantage of that.<\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Oates, President and CEO of the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation (HVEDC), is focused on economic growth in the region.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Understanding Business Jargon: What Really Drives Success in the Hudson Valley By Mike Oates Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time in meetings\u2014whether in conference rooms in Poughkeepsie, boardrooms in White Plains, or even a diner booth in Kingston that served as an unexpected strategy meeting. Throughout this journey, I’ve noticed that the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[55521],"class_list":["post-42195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business-news","tag-hvedc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiabulletinusa.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}