These are great words, Jerry, that often hold different meanings for different people in different situations. Thinking back to my corporate days, there are two other expressions that fell into that category. “Shared responsibility“ and “collaboration.”
Yes, and here's the deeper pattern: almost ALL words work this way. Ambiguity is the default setting for language, and the more important the word, the more meanings it quietly carries.
We tend to think only a few tricky terms cause drift. The reality is that every word arrives flexible enough for each person to hear their own version. That flexibility is a feature until the stakes go up — then it becomes the most expensive bug in the room.
"Shared responsibility" and "collaboration" are two of the most expensive ones. I'd bet they funded entire rework cycles in your corporate days.
These are great words, Jerry, that often hold different meanings for different people in different situations. Thinking back to my corporate days, there are two other expressions that fell into that category. “Shared responsibility“ and “collaboration.”
Yes, and here's the deeper pattern: almost ALL words work this way. Ambiguity is the default setting for language, and the more important the word, the more meanings it quietly carries.
We tend to think only a few tricky terms cause drift. The reality is that every word arrives flexible enough for each person to hear their own version. That flexibility is a feature until the stakes go up — then it becomes the most expensive bug in the room.
"Shared responsibility" and "collaboration" are two of the most expensive ones. I'd bet they funded entire rework cycles in your corporate days.
Indeed they did!