I Admit It, I Said It
By leelefever on December 27, 2004 - 6:27pm.
I was thinking back about all the things I learned this year and something popped into my head that made be cringe, and laugh a little. A few weeks ago, I ran my first focus group. My teammates and I were sharing a concept with a group of managers and looking for their perceptions, ideas, thoughts etc.
I was the lead and really wanted to make a connection with the group as I described the process. Then, a phrase came out of my mouth that I would later regret. I didn’t plan on it and I’m not sure where it came from, but it happened. I told them that I want them to “Think outside the box, inside the box and around the boxâ€. Ugh. Even reading it now I cringe.
As much as I don’t want to be a “typical†consultant, I pretty much cemented that perception with a single phrase. It’s one of my lessons learned from 2004, one of many.
I Admit It, I Said It
It happens to all of us. I've caught myself using catch phrases I SWORE I'd never use... it's even worse than realizing you ARE just like your parents, and you're saying all the same things they said and you SWORE you never would!
I Admit It, I Said It
Lee,
Boy can I relate! After coming from a heavy consultant based company, I was a jargon king. Simple solution... at the start of a presentation, put a jargon jar at the front of your audience table/row. Each time you say a jargon word that more than two people do not understand, you add $1.00. At the end of the meeting, give the total to to manager and tell him that it is to buy coffee/donuts/drinks for the group the next day. Not only will you stop using the jargon quickly, but your audience will pay attention more...and its fun for everyone (as long as you have about $20 in singles...lol!).
I Admit It, I Said It
Oh Shucks!
Sounds like you got caught up in trying to communicate with a bunch of managers and used some of their language. When I was doing that kind of thing (happy retiree now), managers were really big on talking about thinking "outside of the box." Naturally, their box tended to be boarded up on all sides, nailed shut, bolted down....Don't kick yourself about just trying to get them to think! Heaven forbid; your might become one of them some day and remember your experience here.
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