A cliche-ridden corporate crisis in five limericks
In times of crisis, some managers tend to lapse into cliche-speak. So it’s no surprise that things go from bad to verse…
Market churn has set us adrift.
What we need is a paradigm shift.
Get our ducks in a row,
push the envelope,
to keep us from going o’er the cliff.
The boss says, “Let’s touch base.
Make game-plans for the next phase.
We’ll have meetings and talks.
Think outside the box,
to ensure we’re still in the race.”
But the elephant in the room
refuses to sing to our tune,
or dance to our beat,
sing from the same sheet
– even once in a blue moon.
Chin up! We’re still in the ring.
The fat lady hasn’t started to sing.
It ain’t over, they say,
’til it’s over, so hey,
let’s see what the new day will bring.
In the end, we stake our claim
to fifteen seconds of fame.
All said and done,
we’ve hit a home run
in the dying minutes of the game.
Incidentally, portions of this piece have been reproduced as an epigram in Chapter 1 of my book, The Heretic’s Guide to Best Practices. Quite appropriately, that chapter is entitled, Platitudes: empty words that make a lot of noise…
Eight to Late 
great article Kailash, a very good observation. I think apart from potential long term problems flowing from such behavior, it also comes down to personal ethics and behavior, i.e. is it acceptable to behave unreasonably with people just because one has some administrative control over them.
I had a glance through your blog and it makes very interesting reading, great job. I may also pass on your blog details to some of my friends.
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Prakash Rao
September 16, 2008 at 1:05 am
Prakash,
Thanks for the visit and your comments. Do visit again!
Regards,
Kailash.
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K
September 16, 2008 at 10:41 am
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A scope management farce in five limericks « Eight to Late
October 17, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I’d love to see this posted as an audio/video blog Kailash 🙂
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Ricky
November 15, 2011 at 10:51 pm
[…] In times of crisis, some managers tend to lapse into cliche-speak. So it’s no surprise that things go from bad to verse… Market churn has set us adrift. What we need is a paradigm shift… […]
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A cliche-ridden corporate crisis in five limericks | Enterprise Knowledge | Scoop.it
October 29, 2012 at 6:08 am