The All Time List of Business Cliches
As I've written in many different posts, the art of using catchy business cliches and phrases is just out of control. I've had my share of cliche throwing bosses and each one thought they were incredibly witty and effective, when in fact they boring, regular, and incompetent. The other night I was talking to my wife about the latest barrage of cliches from my week and she said "you should make a list, I bet it would be funny". Well, here goes...
UPDATED LIST
- We've got to get our basic blocking and tackling down
- Pick the low hanging fruit
- Let's think out of the box
- How can we make this a win-win situation
- Eat the elephant one bite at a time
- Let's get our arms around it
- I'm looking for your to knock the ball outta the park
- You have to look at this problem from the 30,000 foot level
- Don't throw anyone under the bus
- It's the 80/20 rule at work here folks
- Let's cross that bridge when we get to it
- It's water under the bridge
- The ball is in your court
- I think we can agree to disagree
- He'll due the lion's share of the work
- Take it with a grain of salt
- A good rule of thumb is...
- He is finally in his element
- You're comparing apples to oranges
- That's as clear as mud
- Everthing from soup to nuts
- The whole nine yards
- It's crunch time!
- Don't put your eggs all in one basket
- Fail to plan and plan to fail
- Get your feet wet
- You can expect what you inspect
- Go with the flow
- Rome wasn't built in a day
- Moving forward
- Let's not put the cart before the horse
- You're barking up the wrong tree
- That's just a drop in the bucket
- Stop beating around the bush
- Can't see the forest for the trees
- Caught between a rock and a hard place
- Leave your footprint on this project
- Let's not beat a dead horse
- In a nutshell
- Timing is everything
- Strike while the iron is hot
- Don't burn your bridges
- Step up the plate
- At the end of the day
- Be proactive not reactive
- There is no *I* in team
- Lead, follow or get out of the way
- Let's not rock the boat
- Don't lean to one side or we'll tip the canoe
- Everybody on board the Job Express
- polarized redundancies
- Storm the Winter Palace
- on your plate
- Business Is Going To Be Hard To Get = BIGTBHTG
- Take the ball and run with it
- its 4th and 10
- it's on his/their radar screen
- That dog'll hunt
- Let's whiteboard this thing
- loaded for bear
- Let's swing for the fences on this one
- How do we monetize this
- Let's schedule a knowledge transfer
- you load my gun for me and I'll shoot
- 110%
- let's make sure we're all on the same page here
- run this one up the flagpole
- Value-Added
Phew. That's all the cliches and phrases I could think of in one sitting. I'd like to add to the list and get your feedback. Either leave a comment or email me at king.oftheturtles@gmail.com with your additions to the list. Let's see how big we can get this thing!
