8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
1/45
How to Speak Like a Business
School Grad
http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111110/how-to-speak-like-a-business-school-grad/http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111110/how-to-speak-like-a-business-school-grad/http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111110/how-to-speak-like-a-business-school-grad/http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111110/how-to-speak-like-a-business-school-grad/http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20111110/how-to-speak-like-a-business-school-grad/8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
2/45
360-degree view
1. (n.) Why you tell yourself the penthouse is worth it. 2. Complicated way of saying a thorough
analysis, usually of customers
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
3/45
30,000-ft. view
1. (n.) What you see skydiving. 2. Taking a broad perspective on a problem without going into
detailsthe people on the ground look like ants anyhow.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
4/45
Actionable
1. (adj.) An offense that could get you sued. 2. Ready. Are those deliverables actionable? (See
Deliverable.)
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
5/45
Bandwidth
1. (n.) Amount of information that can be downloaded in a certain amount of time, and
something we need to increase to watch more cute kitten clips on YouTube. 2. Resources
necessary to complete a project.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
6/45
Best practice
1. (n.) That time during rehearsal when the band sounded AWESOME. 2. Technique or method
considered superior for consistently achieving the desired result.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
7/45
Blue ocean
1. (n.) The view from your house in the Hamptons or Malibu. 2. Uncontested market with new
business opportunities.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
8/45
Caveat
1. (v.) A Latin verb, usually used before the word emptor. 2. A way to warn against bad news. I
want to caveat our deliverables. (See Deliverable below.)
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
9/45
C-level
1. (adj.) In school, C is barely passing, below a grade of A or B. 2. In business, C describes a
companys chief managers.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
10/45
Cannibalize
1. (v.) Missionary. Its whats for dinner. 2. To decrease demand for an existing product by
introducing a similar new product.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
11/45
Core competency
1. (n.) The one thing you dont screw up. 2. Area in which a company excels (screwing up does
NOT count) that cannot be easily mimicked.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
12/45
Decision tree
1. (n.) Worst holiday decoration. Ever. 2. Business owners version of Chose Your Own Adventure
that maps out the outcome of different decisions.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
13/45
Deliverable
1. (adj.) Capable of being sent by FedEx. 2. (n.) Task that must be completed under the terms of
an agreement.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
14/45
Delta
1. (n.) Major U.S. airline that scored second-to-last in recent customer satisfaction survey. 2.
Problem with more than two sides.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
15/45
Exit strategy
1. (n.) Verifying location of the fire doors in a theater before the show starts. 2. How a business
owner and entrepreneur gets out of an investment
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
16/45
First mover
1. (n.) Very forward person on a date. 2. First company to enter a market or industry.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
17/45
Free rider
1. (n.) Rapper Flo Ridas cheap cousin. 2. Those who enjoy resources paid for by others.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
18/45
Game changer
1. (n.) To sports fans, a TV remote control. 2. Visionary person, company, or product that
revolutionizes the way business is done.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
19/45
Home run
1. (n.) What your favorite baseball team needs more of. 2. Great success.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
20/45
Invisible hand
1. (n.) Forensic labs worst nightmare. 2. Force guiding the free market.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
21/45
Lean
1. (adj.) Least-fattening kind of bacon. 2. Business management strategy that emphasizes
customer value while minimizing waste. (See Six Sigma.)
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
22/45
Leverage
1. (n.) Something the Democratic Party recently has none of. 2. (v.) To take advantage of--
especially proper English grammar.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
23/45
Low hanging fruit
1. (n.) What to pick in an apple orchard. 2. Easiest work or opportunity that can be undertaken
quickly.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
24/45
Market penetration
1. (n) Act of fighting your way into Whole Foods the day before Thanksgiving. 2. Share of total
potential customers reached.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
25/45
Mindshare
1. (n.) Telepathic alternative to stock share. 2. Consumer awareness of a brand or product.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
26/45
Monetize
1. (v.) To reinterpret from the perspective of a French Impressionist. 2. To turn something into a
money-making asset
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
27/45
Offline
1. (adj.) For Twitter addicts, a state of torture. 2. (adv.) In private.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
28/45
Paradigm shift
1. (n.) Update on The Electric Slide. 2. Dramatic change in how things are done or thought of.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
29/45
Perfect Storm
1. (n.) George Clooney movie released in 2000. 2. Disastrous event caused by combination of
several factors.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
30/45
ROI
1. (n.) The French word for king. 2. Abbr. for return on investment, a way to measure the
benefit of an investment.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
31/45
Scope creep
(n) 1. Pervert with a telescope. 2. When the limits of a project expand without changing the
schedule or budget.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
32/45
Silo
1. (n.) Place to store corn. 2. Reason no one in the company ever knows whats going on.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
33/45
Six Sigma
1. (n.) Loser fraternity that couldnt get even seven members. 2. A business management strategy
developed by Motorola in 1986.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
34/45
Stakeholder
(n) 1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 2. Umbrella term referring to anyone with an interest in a
company or project including investors, employees, customers, suppliers, government, and the
community.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
35/45
STP
1. (n.) Popular motor oil. 2. Abbr. for Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning, a process used to
develop marketing strategy.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
36/45
Synergy
1. (n.) Clergy members who are sinners. 2. Benefit or value achieved by bringing together parties
that would not be possible individually.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
37/45
Triple bottom line
1. (n.) Pants size at Big & Tall stores. 2. Way of measuring organizational performance that
includes people, planet, and profit.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
38/45
Take-away
1. (n.) Food delivered to a home or office in the U.K. 2. The few things you needed to learn
during that torturous three-hour meeting.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
39/45
Take a deep dive
1. (n.) Something not to do in the kiddie pool. 2. (v.) To review extensively.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
40/45
Transparency
1. (n.) Quality describing most of Lady Gagaswardrobe. 2. What most companies financial
disclosures lack.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
41/45
Value add
1. (n.) Providing a benefit. 2. ...unintentionally.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
42/45
Value proposition
1. (n.) What the Hollywood agent made to the ingnue. 2. Statement of why a consumer will
benefit more from a companys product or service than from similar offerings
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
43/45
Vertical
1. (n.) How rock climbers see the world. 2. Referring to a specific business area or market.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
44/45
Win-win-win
1. (n.) Chant used by uncreative sports fans. 2. When three parties benefit from a situation.
8/2/2019 How to Speak Like a Business School Grad
45/45