Originally circulated on 6 November 2020
Aweh fellow Ruminants & Groupies in Lock Down Level 1
Aweh from day 223 of lock down – now level 1.
I am sure most of you have heard the expression, “Drinking the Kool Aid”. This phrase is an established piece of business jargon and in fact in 2012 Forbes magazine ran a tournament to find the most annoying business jargon expression and “Drinking the Kool Aid” won against 32 other worthy contenders. https://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/annoying-business-jargons-12.html. It is worth taking a look at this list and there are many phrases we all hear and use on a very regular basis.
I wish to reach out to all of you and open the kimono and peel the onion so that we can share learnings on the expression “Drink the Kool Aid” so we can take it to the next level.
For those of you are not aware the phrase “drinking the Kool Aid” comes from one of the most disturbing tragedies in modern history, the Jonestown massacre. In 1978 903 people including over 300 children knowingly drank Kool Aid (or Flavour Aid) laced with cyanide and died an agonising death. Cyanide poisoning is an extremely unpleasant way to die. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown. The events at Jonestown constituted the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until the incidents of September 11, 2001.
There are some intriguing threads that runs through some of the literature on this expression and other business jargon. Firstly it is argued that these expressions are annoying clichés and potentially meaningless. In the case of “Drinking the Kool Aid” there is a more disturbing thread relating to political correctness and avoiding offense and urging people to stop using the phrase because it is not accurate, disrespectful and offensive. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/11/stop-saying-drink-the-kool-aid/264957/. Some commentators go further and even suggest it is unethical to use the phrase. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceweinstein/2018/03/29/two-great-reasons-to-stop-saying-i-drank-the-kool-aid/?sh=46b5184e34e3.
Needless to say despite the exhortations of the woke brigade the term is more popular than ever. These commentators suggest that the phrase is disrespectful and hurtful to the victims and survivors of this tragedy. So instead lets airbrush this terrible tragedy out of history and not refer to it and have a popular expression reminding us of it. Let’s all sing, “All things bright and beautiful …..”.
We need to be reminded of this tragedy. This is what can and does happen when people get sucked into an organisation and eventually stop thinking critically and independently. History is littered with tragedies where business, organisations and indeed entire nations go off the rails based on misguided ideology and the suppression of critical thought. This tragedy serves to remind us of our inherent fallibility.
“Drinking the Kool Aid”, is not a meaningless piece of business jargon but an extremely powerful metaphor that serves to remind us that we need to think critically and seek alternative perspectives before making important decisions. It is also not disrespectful to the victims of the massacre but helps to prevent a repeat episode. Don’t drink the Kool Aid!
Does working in a large corporate improve your EQ and encourage you to be a team player? Alternatively does it create blind conformists who must drink the Kool Aid and tow a party line which is not always sensible? Just asking.
Thank you very much for the many helpful suggestions and input which I’m researching and please keep the submission ideas flowing.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 