Welcome to "Tuesday Mornings," a rich source of encouragement and inspiration for Christian leaders everywhere.

 

I worked in ministerial management roles for thirty of my thirty-five years in Christian higher education. While I think I understood the work I was expected to do, I cannot say I mastered the language of some of the young professionals in the field of management. The terms I heard used at professional conferences underwent changes year in and year out. New terms were applied to old concepts, and practitioners were expected to adjust and catch up. I never did. It was especially hard when old terms were given expanded or even new meanings.

 

Here are a few management terms that appeared over the years about which I had to ask myself, "What?"

 

"Discontinuous change; gainsharing;  activity-based costing; empowerment; fuzzy logic; and ISO 9000."

 

My favorite was, "MBWA," which meant (as you know) "Management by Walking Around." I tried that for a few months, and I can tell you nothing productive came of it. I was probably in better shape physically than I was before, but I saw no other measurable results from the activity.

 

There are, however, some words that do not need to be updated in order to understand them better than we did last year. One of those terms is "Excellence." I love that word, don't you? Reconstruct it any way you want, and you will always come up with a quality word. This week's "TM" is entitled "Managerese." But it really means "Excellence." I re-visit this topic periodically. It empowers me.

 

The essay is attached below. Continue reading below whenever you are ready. Then go out this week and practice excellence in everything you think about, believe in, say, and do.

 

Tom Barnard

A Senior (and striving to be an excellent) Encourager

 

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Managerese

Tom Barnard

 

rofessional groups tend to develop a vocabulary all of their own. It’s the language that is shared among practitioners in the field. Typically, groups simply add “ese” to the end of their identity and then create their own glossary. For example, Medical “ese” recognizes 20 or more ways of saying “lump,” including “tumor,” “macule,” and “papule.” Mathematicians recognize about the same number of ways to say “work out,” including “determine,” “prove,” and “calculate.”

 

In management circles there is also an “ese” factor. People in the trade call it “Managerese.” According to Kevin Boone, biophysicist and former senior instructor with Sun Microsystems, “Managerese” is more difficult to tie down than in other professional groups. He states, “Managerese words have very imprecise meanings and can be used over and over again in slightly different contexts.” The result? “We may be talking the same language, but our words hold different meanings.” Sound confusing? It is.

 

In an article entitled “A Glossary of Managerese,” (Across the Board magazine, November/December 1993), author Dawn Chipman surveyed new language forms being used that capture the essence of old ideas. Under the topic, “Managerial Excellence in the Workplace,” she offered the following thoughts on the topic of excellence—ideas she had gleaned from the writings of several prominent writers.”

 

Work hard to keep things simple.

Listen to your employees and treat them like adults.

Insist on top quality. Don’t substitute tools for thinking.

Give innovation product and service “champions” long tethers.

Allow for some chaos in return for quick action and experimentation.

Don’t let intellect overpower wisdom. Analysis shouldn’t impede wisdom.

 

Dr. Boone includes “excellence” in his glossary of “Managerese” terms, but he uses it to describe one’s performance. “Our focus must be on execution excellence in all our prioritized projects going forward. We must focus on making a success of our most important projects.” And the default is “prioritized projects going forward.” Projects considered less important might not be mentioned at all.

 

But God’s Word does not limit “excellence” to “prioritized projects going forward.”

 

Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom (in the grave) where you are going.”

 

2 Corinthians 8:7 “But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you—make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too.” (NET)

 

1 Thessalonians 3:12 “Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more.” (NASB)

 

Commenting on these verses of Scripture, author J. Hampton Keathley III wrote:

 

“Spiritual maturity is a quest for character for which there will be little progress without the pursuit of excellence. Without pursuing excellence, life will remain bland, very vanilla, lukewarm at best. The quest for excellence fuels our fire and keeps us from just drifting downstream gathering debris.” (See his article, “The Pursuit of Excellence,” under “bible.org” on the Internet).

 

Among Paul’s final admonition to the Church at Philippi are the following words (4:8):

 

“Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right.

Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable.”

 

It’s what the Bible calls “Excellence.” And you don’t have to add “ese” at the end to understand it.