Best in class: Difference between revisions

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{{g}}A hapless {{tag|buzzword}} that betrays the lineage of most [[management consultants]] and those influenced by their way of speaking.
{{g}}A hapless {{tag|buzzword}} that betrays the lineage of most [[management consultants]] and those influenced by their way of speaking.


Why would ''anyone'' want to be thought of as “[[best in class]]”, other than a prize ''[[shi-tzu]]''? So for one thing, to describe, say, your own [[IT strategy|IT platform]] as “best in class” is to directly associate it with an [[Awards|award]]-winning pooch, and that may be a fur-ball away from an uncomfortable truth. It ''is'' a dog, and pinning a plastic bauble on its collar from the local [[dog-and-pony show]] won’t change overwhelming force of honest opinion helf by those poor toilers obliged to [[work-around|work around]] it every day just to get their alloted jobs done.
Why would ''anyone'' want to be thought of as “[[best in class]]”, other than a prize ''[[shi-tzu]]''?  


For another, it will salt those of us who remember our school days, and were not [[best in class]]. By any reckoning, that's twenty-four in twenty-five of us. For we of that unfeted majority, “best in class” meant the dyspraxic lad who routinely had his head stuck down the lavatory, pencils jammed up his nose and his [[lunch money]] stolen. That fellow left school a broken figure; pale, wan and with the sparks of bitter resentment kindling a small fire deep in the pits of his sunken eyes.
So for one thing, to describe, say, your own [[IT strategy|IT platform]] as “best in class” is to directly associate it with an [[Awards|award]]-winning canine, and that may be a fur-ball away from an uncomfortable truth. It ''is'' a dog, and pinning a plastic bauble on its collar from the local [[dog-and-pony show]] won’t change the overwhelming force of honest opinion held by the poor, tired, huddled masses who must [[work-around|work around]] it every day just to food upon the family table.


No-one knows for sure what became of him, but be assured there’s a guy with the same name in every [[Management consultant|management consulting]] outfit.  
For another, it will salt those of us who remember our school days, and were not [[best in class]]. By any reckoning, that's twenty-four in twenty-five of us. For we of that unfeted majority, “[[best in class]]” meant the dyspraxic lad whose head we routinely stuck down the lavatory, who had pencils jammed up his nose and his [[lunch money]] stolen. That fellow might have left school a dux, but he was a broken figure: pale, wan and with the sparks of bitter resentment kindling a small fire deep in the pits of his sunken eyes.


No-one knows for sure what became of him, but there’s certain to be a guy with the same name in every [[Management consultant|management consulting]] outfit.
{{sa}}
*[[Lunch money]]
*[[Management consultant]]
{{egg}}
{{egg}}

Revision as of 08:42, 17 September 2019

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A hapless buzzword that betrays the lineage of most management consultants and those influenced by their way of speaking.

Why would anyone want to be thought of as “best in class”, other than a prize shi-tzu?

So for one thing, to describe, say, your own IT platform as “best in class” is to directly associate it with an award-winning canine, and that may be a fur-ball away from an uncomfortable truth. It is a dog, and pinning a plastic bauble on its collar from the local dog-and-pony show won’t change the overwhelming force of honest opinion held by the poor, tired, huddled masses who must work around it every day just to food upon the family table.

For another, it will salt those of us who remember our school days, and were not best in class. By any reckoning, that's twenty-four in twenty-five of us. For we of that unfeted majority, “best in class” meant the dyspraxic lad whose head we routinely stuck down the lavatory, who had pencils jammed up his nose and his lunch money stolen. That fellow might have left school a dux, but he was a broken figure: pale, wan and with the sparks of bitter resentment kindling a small fire deep in the pits of his sunken eyes.

No-one knows for sure what became of him, but there’s certain to be a guy with the same name in every management consulting outfit.

See also