Political correctness in the workplace

Hoboo wrote: »

I think they have it arseways. Leader has over the past 15 years has become the preferred modern term with a distinct set of values and approaches such as autonomy and flexibility, as apposed to the old term manager with a more crack the whip over the shoulder approach and style. It has been proven to be the most successful style for the majority of senior leadership (management if you wish) roles. It's been a pretty loud drum for a long time in HR.

Zero to do with man.

This wrecks my head too..

There are a lot of things one has to be before he should be considered a leader..
You've every dope going around thinking they're one these days..

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Tough for plumbers these days.

'Can I have 6 ballcocks, 4 nipple rings, a reamer, 3 male to female connectors, two bags of half inch o-rings, and 8 lengths of rigid waste pipe'.

They like the pipe though..

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

It's not political correctness: PC really just means plain courtesy.

No, it doesn't. Most offices always had a large degree of courtesy as part of normal operations... hence the belief in being professional. Both with colleagues and customers. Those who weren't professional in their behavior, typically, got passed over when it came to promotions or other benefits, ultimately pushing them out as time went by. Get the message, or move on. Simple enough, and in the vast majority of cases it worked reasonably well.

PC goes beyond that. It creates an environment of paranoia because anything that might be said can be taken to offend someone. Anyone. For any reason. Previously acceptable terms can be redefined to mean something else. Conversations can be dissected out of their original context to justify a witch hunt or crusade against people being offended. Even worse, often, it's about protecting people who aren't even represented... being offended on behalf of others, or being offended at remarks or behavior not even directed at the offended person.

PC encourages people to be bound within very strict modes of behavior and stifles creative interactions between people. Humor helps relationships to grow within teams. Revealing personal information helps bonds to grow... but nobody is going to do any of that when anything can be used to get you fired, or a black mark against you (which is placed on your permanent record within the company, and can follow you beyond that company, if the industry is particularly small).

Black/white anyghing should be gone years ago. Among other things, some cultures associate different connotations with white, so it actually hinders business communication.

So, you'd advocate a world of gray where everyone means exactly the same thing? How do you manage that in a global environment?

I teach English to Asians, both at university and professional levels. The variety of awareness and understanding of basic definitions varies widely because of their own associations of the English word with the meanings in their own language, and the associated meanings with their culture.

Effective Business communication recognises that there are differences in culture, language, and behavior... and works around it. Dumbing the world down to a particular shade by removing all words which might offend or cause confusion, only does two things. Damages the ability/potential of the language to be used as an effective tool (since English can be a very precise language), and/or encourages people to have very narrow-minded perspectives. Language use alters the consciousness as it is used over time.

Ditto kill lists and master / slave anythings.

It really is time for you to move into the 21st century.

It really is time for people to grow the **** up and take responsibility for their own ability to communicate effectively. Censoring a language is a retarded move. It's akin to book burning. People really need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and stop looking to be outraged by everything.

It time to stop burning/destroying systems that were already very good at what they did, and replacing them with poorly thought out ideas.