The Network Operations Work Plan 1997
By: Mike Drake, Vice-President (GT Unit)
General of California has a new plan for its employees. The union was given copies of the plan that was being distributed to all employees during the month of May. We were also given a copy of the videotape that was given to the 'coaches' (we used to call them managers) accompanying their copies of the Work Plan '97. Employees (in my work group) have not seen it because they have been 'too busy'. The videotape is entitled "Walk a Mile in These Shoes". It is based on comments taken from a talk made by, Executive Vice-President of GT Telephone Operations; John C. Apell, to about 80 front-line supervisors at a 'coaches' clinic in Thousand Oaks during April.
The new language called 'corporate speak' is composed of words the consultants use to 'change our mindsets' or convince the stockholders that something they are doing is different. We hear them everyday in the workplace. After I looked over the Work Plan 97 I decided to take some of the words that appear in it and create what I call, The Ultimate Buzzword Projector. I could not resist taking a whack at showing how I think these words can be used to put us "into the conversation".
All the words in my Buzzword Projector come from the Work Plan '97. I absolutely refused to use any of the following words: proactive, rethink, reengineer, competition, market-share, bottom-line, enablers, customer-focused or marketplace to list just a few!
| COLUMN 1 | COLUMN 2 | COLUMN 3 |
| 0. MARKET | 0. ARCHITECTURAL | 0. PERFORMANCE |
| 1. REVENUE | 1. CHARACTERISTICS | 1. INITIATIVE |
| 2. QUALITY | 2. ATTRIBUTES | 2. PORTABILITY |
| 3. INTEREXCHANGE | 3. CONSOLIDATION | 3. MONITORING |
| 4. PROVISIONAL | 4. COMPLIANCE | 4. TRANSITION |
| 5. MIGRATION | 5. IMPLEMENTATION | 5. REPLACEMENT |
| 6. INTEGRATED | 6. COLLECTION | 6. ADMINISTRATION |
| 7. PREVENTIVE | 7. ACTIVATION | 7. YEAR 2000 |
| 8. DIVERSITY | 8. ASSURANCE | 8. PROCESS |
| 9. SYNCHRONIZED | 9. ENHANCEMENT | 9. PRODUCTIVITY |
INSTRUCTIONS:
Think of any three- (3) digit number 000-999. Select the buzzword corresponding to the digit you selected from each column. For example, number 467 produces "PROVISIONAL COLLECTION YEAR 2000". This is a phrase that can be dropped into virtually any report, speech or casual conversation with that ring of decisive authority. No one will have the remotest idea of what you are talking about and if asked they won't admit it. If you are the Executive Vice-President of General Telephone Network Operations no one will even question it.
Special thanks to: The "General Telephone Network Operations Work Plan 1997". All words in this document were lifted from it.