On Corpspeak
I really hate this kind of language, but it is really useful in an American corporate context, as I have recently realized while doing an executive MBA program.  A lot of Americans tie up a lot of their emotions in work success.  A lot of other Americans don't care about their co-workers, and don't want to put in the effort to figure out how to actually respect people (calling cheap places to work "discount" is a good example of this).  Sometimes, the same person is in both groups.<p>The way to usefully make both groups work with others is to use language that is devoid of meaning and, in particular, lacking value judgments.  That way, you can say "Steve, can you explain the learnings from your recent project?" and mean either, "Steve, you fucked up, what are you not going to do again?" or "Steve, your project went great, what tips can you share?"  That way, Steve can feel recognized for his achievements even when Steve did something that was really stupid.  Steve's colleagues have an emotional barrier, too: they won't feel bad for Steve if you are calling out his failures, and they won't feel bad for themselves if you are saying that Steve did something exceptional.<p>It's really fucked up how we have created this sanitized dictionary, but it's too effective in a corporate context not to use it.