“My fellow Americans,” said every presidential candidate ever, “It’s time for a change.” Not every presidential candidate has said it in so many words, but when you boil down the rhetoric, that’s what it comes down to. The reality, of course, is things are going to change anyway, no matter who occupies the White House. The only thing about it that stays the same is that the occupant will always take credit when things change for the better and blame someone else when they don’t.
The world of business is rife with buzzwords. Some self-proclaimed business guru comes up with a clever term for a concept that forward-thinking businesses ought to adopt, and suddenly companies large and small start dropping that term into their mission statements, business plans, and marketing materials. Examples that have fallen into and out of vogue in recent years include “synergy,” “game changer,” “thought leader,” “move the needle,” and “right-size.”
