MBA-isms
Some management-ese terms with a dose of visuals.
Lost in Translation is one of my all-time favorite Hidden Brain episodes. It talks about phrases in every language that are deeply evocative and often untranslatable. The podcast gives an example of a Japanese word - Mendokusai - which is one word for “something between I can't be bothered or I don't want to do it or I recognize the incredible effort that goes into something, even though it shouldn't be so much of an effort.”
In my MBA, I encountered vocabulary that felt like a language of its own (management-ese?) but it was an efficient shorthand to convey the message. Today, I’m showing off my collection of my most-used MBA-isms!
Also, I’ve been inspired by visual artists like Pejman Milani and Michael J Boorman on LinkedIn for a while now. Ever since
introduced me to Excalidraw, I’ve wanted to try my hand at interesting visual depictions. So consider this a practice post for visuals as well! Credit to Flaticon for the icons used here!Here is the list!
Deep and Brief
This is a tenet for how to do impactful public speaking. When you are giving a presentation, be deep and brief. When you raise your hand in a meeting to contribute thoughts to a discussion, be deep and brief. Memorable storytelling is all about being deep and brief!
It Depends
The MBA right-answer to any decision-making question! Most decisions you’ll encounter in leadership roles will be ambiguous. You’ll have to choose with incomplete information, making some assumptions along the way. “It depends” is a reminder to state your assumptions when you make decisions.
Balcony / Dance Floor
Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky created a metaphor for their adaptive leadership theory. It suggests leaders should sometimes engage directly, like being "on the dance floor." At other times, they should "get on the balcony." It will help them gain a wider view without the distractions of detail.
ROI
This stands for “Return-on-Investment”. It is a financial metric that compares the gain or loss of an investment to its cost. It helps you answer, "Is this project worth the effort?" before you invest time, money, and energy in it. This is not just a metric for businesses. You can also use this metric to decide where to invest your attention.
BATNA
This stands for “Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement”. It's a negotiation theory term that refers to the best course of action a party can take if negotiations fail. If this brings to mind large negotiations between politicians or big businesses, let me redirect you to small, everyday situations where this applies. My 9yo knows the house rule that not eating vegetables at dinner means no screen time. If she doesn’t want to eat her vegetables any day, her BATNA is reading or drawing. Some days she is totally fine with these!
Readers, which of these MBA-isms did you find the most interesting and why?