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Political correctness in the workplace

Ardent

I work for an IT multinational. Today, after having spoken about IP whitelists and blacklists, I was politely informed by a colleague that I shouldn't use that terminology as it has racial connotations.

Sure enough, looking at our handbook, we have a list of terms we are discouraged from using, e.g., "rule of thumb" (violent implications). I know one fella here even got pulled aside for saying that customer support folks are the "shepherds" of the customer experience.

Anyone else experiencing this madness where they work?

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CalamariFritti

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

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

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

Ditto kill lists and master / slave anythings.

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

Why don't we ban the actual colours black and white? And maybe red and yellow and brown as well. Just in case. We define these colours as non-existent and then we've jumped straight ahead into the 22nd century. Everyone's happy.

JJJJNR

Its been like that for a long time in IT, I once said a printer was black with ink as it had leaked the contents of its ink cartridge and was asked not to refer to something that was dirty as black, (even though it was black (there I said it again)) ink.

GoatBoy74

Ardent wrote: »

I work for an IT multinational. Today, after having spoken about IP whitelists and blacklists, I was politely informed by a colleague that I shouldn't use that terminology as it has racial connotations.

Sure enough, looking at our handbook, we have a list of terms we are discouraged from using, e.g., "rule of thumb" (violent implications). I know one fella here even got pulled aside for saying that customer support folks are the "shepherds" of the customer experience.

Anyone else experiencing this madness where they work?

Nah me and my colleagues are mad racist, sexist and xenophobic but our bishop doesn’t seem to mind , he just tells us to read the black book in the top drawer.

razorblunt

Chinese Wall > Information Barrier.

Won’t be able to parent and child tables pretty soon too. Discriminates against infertile people (lucky bastards).

KungPao

Next Spanish people will be told not use the word negro.

Blanco and opuesto de blanco they’ll say.

cannotlogin

We are currently in the age of the offended. It's very easy tell if someone intends to offend you or not and that should be the crux of all this.

I witnessed one of the nicest most inoffensive manager I know explaining a new process and referred to man hours verses machine hours and he was pulled up on it and advised that as 46% of the team were female that it has to stop using the term. Completely ott imo.

Someone working in HR told me that the use of team leader is becoming preferable to manager as apparently manager suggests it should be a man. More excessive nonsense.

SeanW

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

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

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

Ditto kill lists and master / slave anythings.

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

Parallel ATA drives were still in common use in the first decade of the 21st century. There are probably still a few in service today.

BarnardsLoop

Oh God, is it really "it's political correctness GONE MAD, Joe!"-o-clock again already? Hey how about a dole "scroungers" thread? Haven't had one of those for a few seconds. Jesus...

Gruffalux

BarnardsLoop wrote: »

Oh God, is it really "it's political correctness GONE MAD, Joe!"-o-clock again already? Hey how about a dole "scroungers" thread? Haven't had one of those for a few seconds. Jesus...

Well you're the one with Loop in your name

Hoboo

cannotlogin wrote: »

Someone working in HR told me that the use of team leader is becoming preferable to manager as apparently manager suggests it should be a man. More excessive nonsense.

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.

Zebra3

Have to admit, I had no idea that "shepherd" was a gender specific term.

cannotlogin

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.

Totally agree with you but to have a very young person in HR tell me that made me laugh. That's what she genuinely believes and so do her colleagues!

Risingshadoo

Ardent wrote: »

I work for an IT multinational. Today, after having spoken about IP whitelists and blacklists, I was politely informed by a colleague that I shouldn't use that terminology as it has racial connotations.

Sure enough, looking at our handbook, we have a list of terms we are discouraged from using, e.g., "rule of thumb" (violent implications). I know one fella here even got pulled aside for saying that customer support folks are the "shepherds" of the customer experience.

Anyone else experiencing this madness where they work?

I think you ought to hand in your notice, and go to work in an Irish company, where people are sane.

[Deleted User]

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..

wally1990

angel eyes 2012 wrote: »

One of the senior directors in my workplace, an absolute gentleman, was introducing two female managers who are responsible for training, to new staff as part of induction training. He introduced them as "these two girls beside me are Mary and Jane..."

One of the new staff members interrupts him and told him he can't call them that, they are women, not girls. He was absolutely taken aback and mortified and so were the two women beside him.

'' one of the new staff members ''

Ah no...... Tough road ahead for that person's manager

Ardent

Risingshadoo wrote: »

I think you ought to hand in your notice, and go to work in an Irish company, where people are sane.

Despite all the PC nonsense and identity politics, it's a brilliant place to work.

Nicky88

Ardent wrote: »

I work for an IT multinational. Today, after having spoken about IP whitelists and blacklists, I was politely informed by a colleague that I shouldn't use that terminology as it has racial connotations.

Sure enough, looking at our handbook, we have a list of terms we are discouraged from using, e.g., "rule of thumb" (violent implications). I know one fella here even got pulled aside for saying that customer support folks are the "shepherds" of the customer experience.

Anyone else experiencing this madness where they work?

You sound like you have a small willy

JohnnyFlash

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'.

Risingshadoo

Ardent wrote: »

Despite all the PC nonsense and identity politics, it's a brilliant place to work.

If someone told me i couldn't used words like whitelist or blacklist... I'd just stare at them and say "what are you like".

[Deleted User]

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..

Mr_Muffin

Black Night Solutions have a "Talk to" section here on boards.

The cheek of them. Who do they think they are?

Kylta

Can you not just switch it off and switch it on again

ChelseaRentBoy

I love blackbirds. In fact I ride a blackbird.

lainey_d_123

I love how often people on Boards accuse someone of lying when they say something which isn't even that out-there. Just goes to show what a tiny little world so many people on here live in, that anything remotely outside their idea of the norm must be a lie.

I also work in IT and my company has also banned the use of whitelist and blacklist because of racial connotations. We are to use 'allow list' and 'deny list' instead. And guess what, nobody really gives a sh*t.

Don't see what's particularly crazy about avoiding words where 'white = good' and 'black = bad' at a time where there is so much awareness being raised of racism but then I've got other stuff to worry about. I suppose I'd have more time on my hands if I lived in my mam's box room.

Ubbquittious

No political correctness at all where I work. Your average twitter outrager would explode within minutes of walking in the door.

[Deleted User]

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.

Keyzer

Ardent wrote: »

I work for an IT multinational. Today, after having spoken about IP whitelists and blacklists, I was politely informed by a colleague that I shouldn't use that terminology as it has racial connotations.

Sure enough, looking at our handbook, we have a list of terms we are discouraged from using, e.g., "rule of thumb" (violent implications). I know one fella here even got pulled aside for saying that customer support folks are the "shepherds" of the customer experience.

Anyone else experiencing this madness where they work?

If you really work in IT you should be able to answer this simple question:

How many flux capacitors are required to power a light bulb for one hour?

If you answer this correctly then I will believe you

mikemac2

Well the answer of course is turn it off and turn it on again

What IT say for everything

everlast75

OP missed the opportunity of calling the thread "Political Correctness in the Wokeplace".

Poor WUM effort - 1/10

mouldybiscuits

Mr_Muffin wrote: »

Black Night Solutions have a "Talk to" section here on boards.

The cheek of them. Who do they think they are?

I think you mean coloured night solutions