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 Sun Jun 04, 2006 9:54 am Issues |
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Hi Alan
For all intents and purposes, the word problem no longer exists in the world of business. Companies no longer have any problems. Absolutely none! Never ever! A problem is much too negative and could cause the stock price to plummet should that word even be whispered.
No, instead businesses have only issues nowadays. 
Amy |
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Yankee
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Fan Of Arabian Horses
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| Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:47 am Issues |
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| Alan wrote: | Hi,
There's one word that seems to be being flogged to death at the moment. The word is issues. Everybody seems to have them from the loftiest to the humblest - from the top dogs to the man on the Clapham omnibus. Do you have them, too?
Alan |
Thanks for bringing back memories of one of my old neighbourhoods – Clapham Common, to be precise. I moved there from Richmond (quite a contrast, eh?). Then, after changing house twice more, ended up living in Holland Park, in one of those lovely Victorian houses converted into bedsitters.
As for the matter at issue (no, that wasn’t a sneeze, thank you!), that’s where I take issue with you (only as far as I’m concerned – just wanted to flaunt the phrase, I guess). Admittedly, issues are more interesting than problems, but I don’t normally say ‘I have an issue’ or ‘I have issues with this or that’. Have I confused the issue now? Anyway, let’s not make an issue of it.
How about this old use of the word?
If someone dies without issue, they have no children. |
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Conchita
Language Coach
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Posts: 2823
Location: Madrid, Spain
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| Sun Jun 04, 2006 13:13 pm Issues |
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| Yankee wrote: | | No, instead businesses have only issues nowadays. |
If they didn't cause the problem, it's a challenge. If they caused it, it's a situation.
Once I got a tech support guy who kept calling a problem with my modem a "situation". I got sick of it and told him it was okay to call it a problem, and to tell his boss I know that just because it's a problem, it doesn't mean they caused it. The man went into hysterical laughter.
Even more bizarre is that fact that in the US many companies instruct employees never to apologize for any mistake, even if a problem is obviously their fault. In our twisted legal system, apologizing is an admission of guilt, and it can mean the company will have to pay astronomical damages in court that may put them out of business. |
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Jamie (K)
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Yankee
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| Tue Jun 06, 2006 0:28 am Issues |
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The guy says: "sorry"
You say: "no opportunity"
or "It's not an issue"
I know it's sad, but I've never used the word issue.
It's gonna change from this very moment.
ISSUE!
It's so bad that everybody's sleeping already around me.
It's an issue.
Spencer |
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Spencer
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| Tue Jun 06, 2006 0:39 am No problem |
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| spencer wrote: | The guy says: "sorry"
You say: "no opportunity"
or "It's not an issue"
I know it's sad, but I've never used the word issue.
It's gonna change from this very moment.
ISSUE!
It's so bad that everybody's sleeping already around me.
It's an issue.
Spencer |
Hey, I'm still here, Spencer (half asleep, though)!
'No problem' is still a fixed expression, I think -- at least I've never heard 'no opportunity/issue' in this sense  !
The word 'problem' has kept its rank in my vocabulary, with 'issue' coming far behind.
So that makes two of us not swimming with the tide! |
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Conchita
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Yankee
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| Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:34 am Issues (but the problem is...!) |
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Hey Amy,
I should've worked with that guy, I would've made him hang himself in a week,trust me
Spencer |
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Spencer
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Fan Of Arabian Horses
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| Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:54 pm Problem vs. issue |
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I think it all depends on how you look at a situation. For example, if somebody is talking about a new idea, a new product, a new company -- in other words, a new opportunity -- then there often are people who counter by saying something like Yes, this is a good idea but the problem is and it won't work for us because ...
They use all their energy to explain why something will not work describing all the problems that get in their way instead of looking at the chances.
So maybe it's not just a single word that sometimes should be replaced but an entire phrase that shows your way of thinking. Instead of saying but the problem is you might as well say and we could use this idea to improve our situation...
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Torsten
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| Wed Jun 07, 2006 0:24 am Issues (but the problem is...!) |
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Michael, my friend,
don't get me wrong, I'm not that kind of guy, I'm only ironic a litle bit sometimes. That's actually my fault, if something is total nonsense to me I always duble it, so it becomes obviusly nonsese to everybody else too.
I mostly forget the fact that you guys don't know me personally, so you might think I'm serious.
Sorry Michael, I hope you're not disappointed in me just because I'm not that trucker-shooting maniac as you thought about me, but I promise you I'll change!
I'm gonna shoot every one of them one by one till my own riffle gets sick of the whole bloodbath thing and asks me to stop being so unreasonable.
Torsten,
are you sure if you forbid to use a word it could change things? For better?
Remember 1984?
The duck-talk?
If I think of something as a problem, then let me call it a problem, not a gift. Otherwise whenever I hear the word "oppurtunity" I might think of it as problem, and after some years spending like this I have to pay a lot of money to a shrink to cure me out of this whole mess.
Anyway, if the word "problem" itself could cause someone a problem, then he's the one who needs help.
Spencer
Ooops, I just read your post again and realised you didn't want to change the word, only the way of peoples thinking.
Anyway, if there IS a problem then you need people to point at it, otherwise it wont be solved, only ignored.
Sorry Torsten, a was working on this post for so long, I just don't want to take off the whole middle part just because you didn't say those things I thought you said.
Let's pretend you wanted to clean English from the word "problem" once and for all, but I didn't let you.
Thanks
Spencer |
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Spencer
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| Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:10 am Issues (but the problem is...!) |
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| spencer wrote: | Michael, my friend,
don't get me wrong, I'm not that kind of guy, I'm only ironic a litle bit sometimes. That's actually my fault, if something is total nonsense to me I always duble it, so it becomes obviusly nonsese to everybody else too.
I mostly forget the fact that you guys don't know me personally, so you might think I'm serious.
Sorry Michael, I hope you're not disappointed in me just because I'm not that trucker-shooting maniac as you thought about me, but I promise you I'll change!
I'm gonna shoot every one of them one by one till my own riffle gets sick of the whole bloodbath thing and asks me to stop being so unreasonable.
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Hi Spencer!
That?s what I like at you! Your open and fancyful way of discribing your thoughts. Don?t worry, you don?t have to shoot the truckers in fact  . At least not to keep our Brotherhood!
I think you know that I was kidding!
By the way, have you finished your exaggerated work or are you still up to your ears in work?
Michael |
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Fan Of Arabian Horses
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| Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:03 pm Problems vs. solutions |
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| spencer wrote: | Torsten,
are you sure if you forbid to use a word it could change things? For better?
Remember 1984?
The duck-talk?
If I think of something as a problem, then let me call it a problem, not a gift. Otherwise whenever I hear the word "oppurtunity" I might think of it as problem, and after some years spending like this I have to pay a lot of money to a shrink to cure me out of this whole mess.
Anyway, if the word "problem" itself could cause someone a problem, then he's the one who needs help.
Spencer
Ooops, I just read your post again and realised you didn't want to change the word, only the way of peoples thinking.
Anyway, if there IS a problem then you need people to point at it, otherwise it wont be solved, only ignored.
Sorry Torsten, a was working on this post for so long, I just don't want to take off the whole middle part just because you didn't say those things I thought you said.
Let's pretend you wanted to clean English from the word "problem" once and for all, but I didn't let you.
Thanks
Spencer |
Spencer, you are right -- eliminating words doesn't automatically mean you have eliminated the concept that word describes. It's good to hear you have read Nineteen Eighty-Four and even remember Newspeak and its ramifications. I also agree with you that if you replace one word with another you still have the same result. If you avoid words like problems you might soon end up using issue or challenge in the same way.
So, it's not so much about replacing words, it's more about raising awareness of the connection between language and thinking. I believe that the language a person uses reflexts their way of thinking. It show the culture they were raised with and the mentality they embrace.
As with any other tool, you can use language in various ways depending on our goals. If you use the "But-the-problem-is" (mind you, I'm referring to the entire phrase rather than just the word problem) -- your intention most likely is to convince the other person that their suggestion won't work. If you use the "Yes-and-we-can-also-do-the-following-approach", you want to pull together with the other person. You are working WITH them rather than AGAINST them.
All too often I hear people speak about problems instead of solutions. It goes without saying that life is full of problems, we need problems to solve them -- otherwise, what would be the purpose of life? So, why do we always have to dwell on the obvious -- the fact that there are problems? Why not also see the other side of the story -- the solutions?
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| Proofreading: What do you do upon finishing a text? | Special Update for Alan |
It is nicer to live in a world of issues than in a world of problems!
