The Parking Lot is a funny thing. On one hand, it’s very necessary to keep the conversation on track (people can’t help but stray). On the other hand, some great ideas die in the Parking Lot.

Learning: If you keep a Parking Lot, someone must own the capture, reduction, and assignment of critical topics.

Does this resonate with you? How do you keep meetings focused on a single topic and keep ideas that are off-topic (but interesting) alive? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

It’s funny to think about the evolution of business jargon. In the last few years, we somehow moved from “Eating Our Own Dog Food” to “Drinking Our Own Merlot,” which means “to use your company’s own software or solutions.” As an aside, I’ve heard Champagne or Wine as substitutes for Merlot – but it does beg the question: Why did we start with Dog Food? Why not just Food? Well, we have Microsoft to blame for that. In the 1980s, Microsoft Manager Paul Maritz wrote an email challenging his team to use their own product. The title of that email was “Eating our own Dogfood.”

Conclusion: Aside from the fact that this would likely be an incredibly boring book, I would love to know the history and rationale behind business jargon and the evolution of certain phrases over time.

References and Resources

Eating Your Own Dog Food from Wikipedia; Type: Article

Does this resonate with you? Have you seen the evolution of certain business jargon? Care to share? We’d love to hear from you.

In Customer Success, a plan is great, but following the plan is not the point. The phrase “The Operation was successful, but the patient has died” helps demonstrate how ‘processes’ and ‘processes as proxy’ cannot replace a customer-centric mindset.

Learning: If you see a plan that is not working for a customer, it is foolish to continue with it. Create a better plan. Agility is what separates the new leaders from the seasoned ones.

References and Resources

The operation was successful, the patient is dead by Helge Tennø/Medium; Type: Article

Have you ever experienced this phenomenon? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

The term “Circle back” is baked in good intent. It’s often used to focus a discussion on a single topic. “Let’s circle back to that” is similar to putting something in “the Parking Lot.” However, unlike the parking lot, where it’s more permanent, “Circle back” suggests temporary deferment. When someone utters, “I’d like to circle back to what [Helen] said,” be aware – this can easily lead to topic shifts and egos taking over the conversation. Not always, but often.

Learning: Business Jargon is contagious – beware of overusing it.

How long has it been since you’ve heard the phrase “Circle Back”? And did you, in fact, “Circle Back?” We’d love to hear from you.