Have you ever noticed...

I spent about twenty years working in corporate environments.  I dwelt in cubicles, toiling away for some of the least-respected companies in Canada.

In that time, I noticed a lot of things going on.  Things that make cynics feel entirely justified in their cynicism.

For instance, there were a lot of military- and war-themed metaphors.  At one point or another, I heard all of these used in the workplace:

• execute on a strategy
• launch a new campaign
• drop the bomb
• take the hit
• attack a problem
• capturing market share
• fall on my sword
• provide cover
• targeting a market
• lead the charge
• managers spending time in the trenches
• battleground markets
• employees as troops

Why is that?  Is it an unspoken admission that the job isn't fulfilling?  That what they're doing lacks drama, or nobility, or any identifiable moral purpose?  I don't know, but I do know that mentioning it meant I "wasn't a team player".

Maybe it was just a function of the time period.  I've been away from the corporate world for a few years now, and for all I know they now use Pokemon-based metaphors.  I think I'd very much prefer that.

Leveraged synergistic paradigms, I choose you!