Nobody sitting with perfect posture in a room of button-down shirts, looking at a slide that says “leverage strategic capabilities,” is doing their best work.

They’re just not.

You know what they’re doing instead? They’re nodding pleasantly, wondering the last time they went to the bathroom, and trying to figure out when to jump into the conversation with an agreeable, jargon-filled platitude. This is good for no one.

I have been a management consultant for over a decade, serving many Fortune 500 clients, and I have spewed my share of jargon. I understand the instinct. We want to telegraph our competence and we want to fit in, and therefore, we put on “business theater.”

Unfortunately, when we perform, people can often tell. Take Princeton researcher Daniel M. Oppenheimer’s landmark st

See Full Page