Comments for Business In Washington - Business Operations & Management Consulting

Comment on Leadership & Planning - mitigating the potential disaster of Gustav by Leadership Program

Leadership Program — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:03:45 +0000

Leadership Program…

A quote attributed to Walter Lippman describes the last — and maybe the most important — accomplishment of a true leader: The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on….

Comment on The Word Cop fights crime…Verbicide! by Margaret Purvine

Margaret Purvine — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:52:57 +0000

I heard a couple more egregious examples of verbicide and just had to share them with my readers. These come from Fox News, sad to say.

One of the female newscasters, attempting to get a long-winded guest to come to the point, said, “Bottom line it for me.” (Groans from The Word Cop!)

Last evening, as I was working on a project in my sewing room, my husband walked into the room and silently handed me a pad and pen. Then he said, “I always caveat that.” Wincing in pain, I wrote it on the pad he had provided. “That comes from Brian Wilson,” he told me.

Come on Brian and all of you at Fox News! I know you can do better than that!

Since TV newscasters offer some of the richest fodder for The Word Cop, I challenge my readers to share some of the crimes they have witnessed. I look forward to hearing them!

Comment on The Word Cop Pleads for Verb Variety by Zoey

Zoey — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:08:00 +0000

Well said.

Comment on The Word Cop Pleads for Verb Variety by Margaret Purvine

Margaret Purvine — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:28:09 +0000

Martin,

You ask some excellent questions, more than I can address adequately here. Let me offer a couple of thoughts, however. Then watch for additional posts.

Certainly, our schools own a piece of this problem. I am not a teacher (at least not since the late 70’s), but my impression from the outside is that standards are not as rigorous as they were when I went through school myself, either for students or for teachers. The other impact has to be coming from parents, who are not demanding the same level of performance from their children. Whether this is from permissiveness or simple lack of time to watch over their children’s education I cannot say. But the effect on our society is far reaching and scary.

What I can say is that you are absolutely correct in deploring the lack of broad discussion. I plan to ask every teacher I know for their input. If you do the same, perhaps we can start the discussion!

As far as casual profanity, this can also be the result of a more permissive society, which we certainly are. Once again, I intend to ask business owners and managers for their comments. In my line of work, I come in contact with lots of the them!

One thing I do hear from hiring managers and recruiters is that they are seeing the results of the very problems you mention. It makes their efforts to hire and keep good employees increasingly difficult.

Thanks for your comment!

Comment on The Word Cop Pleads for Verb Variety by Martin Blake

Martin Blake — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:30:41 +0000

Margaret,thank you for your work and we’re colleagues! I see you’re holding down the fort for better use of language in business contexts. My concern is with the dumbing down of the entire culture. What seems to be missing most is a broad discussion of this problem of liketalk. Why aren’t English teachers doing more?
It could all be stopped by simple intervention at about third grade. If it was part of national curriculum guidelines, by the fifth grade it would be considered very uncool to say “like” in every sentence.
Please weigh in on WHY you think this trend has taken over.
Also, I’d love to hear you comment on the incredibly increasing use of casual profanity in the workplace. Can’t companies enforce their own speech codes? Or are they terrified of First Amendment lawsuits?

More later.

Comment on Can you - like - speak without saying “like”? by Martin Blake

Martin Blake — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:42:38 +0000

Teriffic! There are others out there who understand the destruction to English this little word has created! Please check out my blog, which is all about this: languageemergency.blogspot.com

Comment on Should we be panicked over the economy? by Margaret Purvine

Margaret Purvine — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:20:20 +0000

The job numbers for November and the revised numbers for October just came out. They indicate more modest growth, but still growth. Here is the quote from my WSJ News Alert:

“U.S. employment growth was modest in November. The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls increased by 94,000 last month, down from October’s 170,000 gain, which was revised up by 4,000. The slight employment gain will likely keep a third straight Federal Reserve rate cut on track when officials meet next week. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7%.”

This supports my contention that it’s way too soon for panic!

Comment on The Joy of Business Travel - Differentiators in a Competitive Market by Margaret Purvine

Margaret Purvine — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:57:01 +0000

Great post, Dennis! All of us road warriors, past and present, can relate. Did you happen to see the article, originally in the Wall Street Journal and also printed in the Seattle Times, about the United Airlines pilot noted for his outstanding customer service? The title of the Times item was “Now there’s a first-class pilot”. The pilot, Capt. Flanagan, simply goes out of his way to make his passengers (otherwise known as customers) comfortable, as best he can within the constraints of today’s travel. There were many examples of things he does. When unaccompanied children are on board, he “personally calls parents with reassuring updates.” He writes brief notes on business cards to first class passengers, addressing them by name and thanking them for their patronage. The comment that spoke to me, however, was the one about flying with pets in the cargo compartment. He takes pictures of these pets with his cell phone, then shows them to the pet owner, reassuring them that the pet is safely on the plane. As a pet owner who has flown with pets and worried for their safety, I can’t tell you how much this sort of thing is appreciated! Take a look at the article, if you can, and long for the days when this sort of customer service wasn’t so unusual!

Comment on Planning: Are you ready for the unexpected? by Fran

Fran — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:27:35 +0000

Congratulations! A blog is quite an accomplishment.

Your articles are content rich and reflect your professionalism. WEll done!