Picture this: You’re chatting with a colleague when, suddenly, they throw out a phrase or an acronym that you’ve never heard before. Your mind starts racing as you try to piece together their words. You smile and nod, hoping that they don’t notice you’re no longer following at all and are, in fact, entirely confused.
5 Office Buzzwords You Should Know About
And how to use them.
September 14, 2021
HBR Staff/Getty Images/Anton Vierietin
Summary.
Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation with a colleague, when all of a sudden, they say a word or phrase you’ve never heard before? Cue the confusion. To help you avoid this situation in the future, here are five phrases you might hear at work and how to use them.
- Growth Mindset: The belief that your abilities can be developed over time by learning to embrace failures, facing difficult situations with resilience, and seeking help along the way.
- Job Crafting: Personalizing your current role in a way that feels energizing and helps you stay relevant.
- Divergent Thinking: A method of thinking that allows us to consider various solutions to a problem and discover new points of view. It is also known as thinking “outside of the box.”
- Confirmation Bias: The tendency to seek out information that affirms your beliefs and ignore information that opposes your beliefs.
- Executive Presence: The ability to inspire confidence in others to believe in and follow you.
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New!
HBR Learning
HBR Learning
Writing Skills Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Writing Skills. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Capture your audience's attention with smarter emails, Slacks, memos, and reports.