December 25, 2009

“He’s an information expert.  It just so happens that all of his info is bad.”

We have watched and listened to many strange things in the last decade.  A bit more than ten years ago, I heard the phrase “negative earnings” used by a controller on the West Coast.  He was describing financial performance that theretofore had been referred to as “losses”.  It was shocking to sit and listen to him use this phrase with audacity.  Somehow, because the word “earnings” was part of his message, we were supposed to be impressed with his company’s performance.

Now, we listen to news reports telling us that the police have “a person of interest” they are questioning.  For those who remember, police spokesmen once classified such people as “suspects”.  The examples of such speech are too numerous to mention and insult our intelligence in the worst way. 

The ready companion to such speech is the individual who is willing to say anything just to be heard, demonstrating their belief that it is better to be wrong and “involved” than listening and learning.  One such character seemed to make it a point to arrive at meetings with snippets of data that were remotely connected to the agenda but far from the issue at hand.  He didn’t know enough to make a meaningful contribution yet he always felt obliged to speak.  His brief commentaries were distracting and tried our patience.  Of him, it was said, “He’s an information expert.  It just so happens that all of his info is bad.”

Unfortunately, all of us are slipping into the world of bad information.  We speak in terms that do not depict the truth as we know it.  Cost that exceeds revenue is a loss.  We now refer to such as negative earnings.  While a suspect might be an interesting person, he is nonetheless a suspect. 

On a recent trip to a local hospital to visit a patient there, I passed a large room.  People of all kinds were carrying trays of food they had collected from underneath large glass panes and paid for at the end of a stainless steel counter.  Experience told me I had found the cafeteria.  A sign outside the room told me otherwise.  It read:  “Dining Facility”.  My bad information antenna was immediately activated.

Merry Christmas!      

Craig Halsey

They Said It

December 25, 2009