THE habit of writing or speaking English corporatese begins harmlessly enough. It starts with snappy little jargon like "concretize," "prioritize," "optimize," "energize," "synergize," and "operationalize." Then it becomes a mild neurosis of talking and writing in euphemisms and fancy diminutives on one hand, such as describing a particularly big company loss as a "tactical setback" or a "strategic retreat," and, on the other hand, using equally fancy superlatives such as 'back-to-basics strategy," "best-in-class initiatives," "interactive multidimensional feedback loop," and the classic ENRON bluster that says "laser-sharp focus on earnings per share." Then the neurosis quickly grows into an overwhelming compulsion, an inner voice that incessantly whispers to one's ear that to stay on the clear path to success in the corporate world, one should never catch himself being too honest or too forthright with his English.
After all, the corporatese spinners would say, it's only words, English words. Like little sticks and stones, they are only words, and they couldn't hurt you. But what the corporate types conveniently forget or put under the rug is that there's such a thing as executive ethics and responsible corporate governance. You are supposed to be honest and truthful to your colleagues and subordinates. You are supposed to be faithful and true to all the stakeholders of the company who put you in the executive suite: the stockholders, the investors, the customers, the employees and their families, the financial community, the government, and the scores of contractuals who wipe the dust off company desks or turn on the lights in the silent morning and take out the trash and finally turn off the lights in the dead of night.
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