As someone who regards the English language in the same way a sommelier regards a fine red wine, I appreciate the minute differences between words as similar as 'fine', 'nice', or 'good'.

Yet none other than language master William Shakespeare told us, through the character of Juliet, that a rose "by any other name would smell as sweet".

In business, it's often fine for definitions to be blurry - does "casual" Friday allow staff to wear jeans?

But when it comes to business strategy, definitions must be strict. Consider two partners who agree to "grow" their business - one hires 3 new staff for his team (to "grow" revenue), while the other lets 3 go (to "grow" profit). Ouch!

How clear are you about the language you use when planning strategy?

Sprezzatura
Shakespeare added 2000+ words to our language, many of which were taken from other languages. I'm stealing 'Sprezzatura' from the Italians - if you know my relaxed nature this article (you can skip the video) will tell you why.

What's in a Name?
Having trouble naming that new project, product, or pesky child? Mark is a Professional Name Consultant, and he can help.

An Industry of Name Callers
And if Mark is of interest to you, why not learn more about the industry that decides on lasting brand names like, um, iSnack 2.0.

Learn to be Lucky
What many people call "Luck" turns out to be the product of our own actions. So don't blame Miss Fortune - take responsibility for your own reality.

Intranet Joke of the Week

Speaking of luck, a gangster wins $100,000 playing Roulette in Vegas. Upon returning home he decides he'd rather not tell (or share it with) his wife, so he first sneaks into the backyard and buries the money.

The next morning he goes outside to discover only an empty hole, and mud tracks leading to the home of his neighbour - a deaf mute. Aware that another neighbour, a professor, is fluent in sign language, the gangster grabs his gun, awakens the professor, and marches into the neighbour's house.

"You tell this guy that if he doesn't give me back my $100,000, I'm going to kill him," he screams at the professor, who promptly translates.

The neighbour signs back: "I'm sorry. I panicked. It's sitting in my bedroom right now."

The professor turns back to the gangster. "Wow," he says. "First this guy says he'd rather die than give you back the money. Then he says it doesn't matter, because you don't have the stomach to shoot him anyway."

Until next week ... good luck!

Jacob Aldridge and the Shirlaws Team

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