Everything popular is wrong

Read the book "Rework" (on NYT, WSJ bestseller lists) and start believing the quote which is title of this post. From book title page:

• ASAP is poison
• Under-do the competition
• Meetings are toxic
• Fire the workaholics
• Emulate drug dealers
• Pick a fight
• Planning is guessing
• Inspiration is perishable.

Book excerpt is available in PDF format from book home page.

Fake moral lessons

Many facebook discussions start with some quotable quote or a story. Fake moral stories are on the rise as well. Consider the following interesting discussion on facebook based upon a fake story (names and some discussion removed for brevity and to protect the innocent)

Eagle siting on a tree doing nothing. Rabit thought to do the same & sat on ground. A wolf came & ate it. Lesson: To sit & do nothing, you need to be on top!!

Another friend replied to this with another similar story:

WELL SAID, I heard an other story i mean not related to this but funny;

A turkey was chatting with a bull. 'I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree' sighed the turkey, 'but I haven't got the energy.''Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?' replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients.'The turkey pecked at a ... See Morelump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.

Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral Bull Shitt might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

I replied with:

I think that both these stories also demonstrate a critical flaw of logic; you can prove anything with logic using an appropriately constructed story involving humans, animals, plants, stars etc.

There are three problems with stories like this:

1. These stories are obviously fake. No one was sitting with those animals and recording their "thinking" for the story.
2. We can make animals do whatever we want to according to our planned outcome.
3. Even if the above two things were right somehow, we are still generalizing from one example which is surely a wrong thing to do. (See http://lesswrong.com/lw/dr/generalizing_from_one_example/)

There are better ways to teach and I shall be writing about some of these in future.

Corporate speak

What is corporate speak (without corporate speak)?

1. Corporate talk which means nothing to common people.
2. An ambiguous way of communication you won't use with your mother, wife or kids.

Definition

Management-speak has triumphed. It has made much of our everyday language dull, dimwitted and meaningless. To sound professional, you must express everything in abstract nouns, and each noun in terms of another one; you must talk about synergy and strategy, uptake and outcomes and outputs and inputs, key performance indicators and drivers and customer experience - even if your 'customers' are in fact patients in a hospital. Your words will be obscure and indigestible. You will conform to the new way. You will surrender the ability to write and speak with spontaneity or clarity and, with prolonged use, even your ability to think clearly. (Source: Weasel words)

And from wikipedia:

Marketing speak refers to particular patterns of language often used to promote a product or service to a wide audience by seeking to create the impression that the vendors of the service possess a high level of sophistication, skill, and technical knowledge. Such language is often used in marketing press releases, advertising copy, and prepared statements read by executives and politicians.

Marketing speak is characterized by its heavy use of buzzwords, neologisms, and terms appropriated from specialized technical fields which are eventually rendered almost meaningless through heavy repeated use in inappropriate contexts.

Who talks like this?
Used mostly in big corporations. Independent  consultants also love it. They want to convince you that they are really capable and delivering something you don't know. They are actually delivering nothing. Makes them feel important and you look as stupid as possible. Some intellectuals also love it.

Examples

A job at micrsoft.com:

If you’re looking for a new role where you’ll focus on one of the biggest issues that is top of mind for KT and Steve B in ‘Compete’, build a complete left to right understanding of the subsidiary, have a large amount of executive exposure, build and manage the activities of a v-team of 13 district Linux& Open Office Compete Leads, and develop a broad set of marketing skills and report to a management team committed to development and recognized for high WHI this is the position for you!

From an IT company website:

We take the initiative to redirect with diversity of though, superior coordination and affirmative appraoch, ingenuity of ideas and assessment of skills, which are conductive to the success of any firm. That's why we are committed to quality and value. We are trying to make I.IT a basic need for business development so the creation of reporting in vast fields of business can modify and the decision making power can get improve for the business.

Oh God, I am in trouble. I can't speak like that. Any help?
Yes here is one glossary for the innocent victims.