“Miswords” in the Corporate World

“Miswords” are words that gloss over an act lacking in integrity – it is worse than oxymoron. Oxymoron is two words with opposite meanings that are combined to create a new meaning. For example, “awfully good”, “clearly confused”, “deceptively honest”, “falsely true”, “living dead”, “true fiction” or “working vacation”.

“Miswords” is a development from the financial crisis of 2008 (or perhaps earlier). Banks or insurance companies are good at “misselling”. This is the deliberate, reckless or negligent sale of products or services in circumstances where the product or service is not suitable for the customer. Here, no one gets charged, banks may pay a suitable fine and promise not to do it again.

Then there is “misspoke”. What does that mean? To be fair, politicians use it more frequently than corporate CEOs. According to Webster’s dictionary, misspeak is to “speak, utter, or pronounce incorrectly, to stammer or garble”. President Trump is best at it! Corporate executives sometimes exaggerate performance of their companies to create a positive “spin” and hence improvement in their share price. So, is this just being less than honest? Embellishing a story, making-up events, projecting beyond reasonable bounds, rewriting corporate history knowing full well it is false is serious stuff!

Then perhaps you could add new ones like “misact” which is not acting in an appropriate manner or “misthink” which suggests you had some evil, deceptive ideas.

Admission of a false statement or act is better in the long-run. Integrity cannot be bought. Weak explanations and playing word games are just trying to avoid responsibility. Doing this raises serious questions of character and ability to lead. It is true in business or in government.