Topics—Problems
Bullshit Bingo
Sometimes topical or fashionable words block real communication. A humorous perspective.
(I put this article on the website for your information and humor only, not
as a suggestion, Barry Phegan.)
Author, Anonymous, circa 2000?
Do you keep falling asleep in staff meetings?
What about those long and boring conference calls?
Here's a way to change all of that:
1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call, prepare your "Bullshit Bingo" card by drawing a square -- I find that 5" x 5" is a good size -- and dividing it into columns --five across and five down. That will give you 25 1-inch blocks.
2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:
- Synergy
- Strategic fit
- Core competencies
- Out of the box
- Bottom line
- Revisit
- Take that off-line
- 24/7
- Out of the loop
- Benchmark
- Value-added
- Proactive
- Win-win
- Think outside the box
- Fast track
- Result-driven
- Empower (or empowerment)
- Knowledge base
- At the end of the day
- Touch base
- Mindset
- Client focus(ed)
- Ballpark
- Game plan
- Leverage
- Cascade
- Sequential or sequentially
3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.
4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout "BULLSHIT!"
Testimonials from satisfied "Bullshit Bingo" players:
"I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won."
- Jack W., Boston
"My attention span at meetings
has improved dramatically."
- David D., Florida
"What a gas! Meetings will
never be the same for me after my first win."
- Bill R., New York City
“The atmosphere was tense
in the last process meeting as 14 of us waited for the fifth box."
- Ben G., Denver
"The speaker was stunned as
eight of us screamed "BULLSHIT!" for the third time in two hours."
- Harry A, Chantilly
"Thanks Bingo creator for thinking
outside the box and proactively creating this value-added knowledgebase that
is a strategic fit with my core competencies and current client focused mindset.
I can leverage our existing process and exploit the inherent synergies to
expand the knowledgebase to cater to our result driven folks who will work
24/7 to put it on a fast-track. This cascading game-plan is what I call a
truly win-win situation."
- Swami S, Sunnyvale, CA