Having for the most part spent my working life as an
ink-stained wretch, retail punching bag or cubicle rat, I am new to business
meetings and am having a good time with some of the jargon. This recent delight
is probably remedial to many readers, but it’s a relative novelty to me.
My favorite thus far has been the term, Ben-Hur. When one
gets Ben-Hurred, it means a relatively small issue has distracted a manager,
which has in turn caused him or her to turn away from a more important matter. It
refers to a moment in the movie "Ben-Hur" when Charlton Heston’s character meets
a group of people who are going to see Jesus Christ deliver the Sermon on the
Mount. Poor old Ben elects not to join them and misses out on one of the
defining pieces of Christian oratory. It’s like missing the “I Have a Dream”
speech, the Gettysburg Address and Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance all at
once.
In a business context, it might refer to someone getting
wrapped up in a merchandising project and as a result, missing out on an opportunity to land
a major client. It is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees
or of being penny-wise and pound-foolish. It is the misapplication of resources
born of a poor assessment.
I have been so entertained lately by business
jargon that I am tempted to share another term here, but I wouldn’t want you to feel
rag-dolled.
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