Definition

The molecular instruction manual that makes you uniquely you, now hijacked by corporate types to describe a company's "core values" or "fundamental identity." When a CEO says "innovation is in our DNA," they're either talking about their commitment to disruption or desperately need a biology refresher. Unlike actual DNA, corporate DNA can apparently be changed with a rebrand and a consultant's PowerPoint.

Example Usage

"Customer obsession is part of our company's DNA," the executive announced, apparently unaware that actual DNA can't be revised quarterly.

Source: Common corporate terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

Quarterback

To lead or coordinate a project, borrowing from football despite most office workers never having touched a football. The person who gets credit when things work and blamed when they don't.

💼 Corporate / Business
Intermediate

visioning

Corporate-speak for 'daydreaming with a PowerPoint deck,' where executives gather to imagine future success without worrying about pesky details like budgets or reality. It's the art of creating aspirational statements that sound profound in all-hands meetings but mean absolutely nothing by Tuesday. When someone schedules a 'visioning session,' bring your buzzword bingo card.

💼 Corporate / Business
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fire drill

An urgent, chaotic scramble to address something that's suddenly a priority, despite being predictable weeks ago. Manufactured urgency masquerading as crisis management.

💼 Corporate / Business
Beginner

heads down time

Uninterrupted periods for focused work without meetings, messages, or random shoulder taps—a mythical concept in most open office environments. What employees desperately need and rarely receive.

💼 Corporate / Business
Beginner

Roadmap

A strategic timeline showing planned features or initiatives, though calling it a 'map' suggests more certainty than usually exists. More accurately: a wishlist with dates.

💼 Corporate / Business
Intermediate

tactic

A calculated move or maneuver designed to achieve a specific short-term objective, as opposed to strategy which is the long game. In business, it's the specific actions you take; in military contexts, it's how you don't get outflanked. The difference between tactics and strategy is like the difference between knowing how to code and knowing what to build.

💼 Corporate / Business

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