JOHNSON often takes a curious rather than a judgmental view of language use: where many fuss and fret that the language is falling to pieces, your columnist often finds that examining the messy use of language in the real world is more fun than finger-wagging. But that doesn’t mean that Johnson doesn’t think that words can be used badly. And one word that corporate bosses need to look up in their nearest dictionary, with haste, is “strategy”.

Last week I attended two companies’ annual results meetings. In the first, a manufacturing firm proudly displayed a slide of its strategy, which included,

Profitable growth; strengthening global leadership. Strengthening the balance sheet…to generate more and better business.

(I’ve omitted the company’s name; we’re here to enlighten, not to shame.)

The first thing wrong with this is of course the jaw-slackening obviousness. Every company on earth wants to be profitable; most want to grow; all of them need strong balance sheets. But the second problem is the underlying misunderstanding of “strategy”. Simply put, this word does not mean…Continue reading

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