More Gems

Best of Breed
Context: If we're going to survive in this market, we'll need to challenge the best of breed
Meaning: Our service is rubbish compared to our biggest competitors. Similar: Best in class.

Bespoke
Context: We'll develop you a bespoke solution
Meaning: We won't flog you the mass market solution - we'll actually develop something specifically for you.

Big Hitter
Context: I'm in awe of that Exec - he's a really Big Hitter
Meaning: Someone powerful within the confines of the company. Variant: hard hitter.

Blue Sky Thinking
Context: Let's start with a blank sheet of paper and do some blue sky thinking and see what happens
Meaning: this is similar to thinking 'out of the box' and is supposed to be a situation where you come up with ideas taking into account no preconceptions and not dismissing ideas instantly

Brain Dump
Context: Have a brain dump and see what you come up with
Meaning: Brainstorm

Core Competencies
Context: We need to focus on our core competencies in order to maintain our edge in the marketplace
Meaning: What you/your company does well

Customer Centric
Context: We need to be customer centric from now on
Meaning: Since ultimately we sell to the customer, we might as well listen to what they're saying. Similar: customer driven.

Cutting Edge
Context: This is cutting edge technology we're using
Meaning: This is the most recent version. Slightly less bugs.

End to End
Context: Let's visualise the process end-to-end
Meaning: Let's work out the whole process

E.T.A.
Context: What's the E.T.A. on this report?
Meaning: short for Expected time of arrival, ie how long will it take to get it finished.

First Mover
Context: If we launch 3G now, we'll have first mover advantage
Meaning: If we pay massive advertising costs to educate customers about this new development, we'll hopefully have the advantage of getting lots of customers. If not, we've paid to educate people whilst other companies with no ad costs will reap the rewards.