“Create two process-improvement opportunities.”

Self-negation

I saw this in an email message about worthwhile monthly goals.

Problem:
This goal negates itself.

Explanation:
This monthly goal seems to be written well.

The goal has “Create” — a popular verb for goal setters because one can usually determine (“measure”) whether something has been created.

The goal has “opportunities” — a very popular noun in the corporate world because businesses thrive on taking advantage of opportunities, wherever they may arise.

And the goal refers to process improvement, and who couldn’t love process improvement, right?!

Take a few moments to analyze the goal, though, and you find that it negates itself.

What is a process-improvement opportunity? It is an opportunity for process improvement.

What is an opportunity for process improvement? It is a situation where something is running inefficiently. In other words, it is an inefficient process.

In other words, Create two inefficient processes. is the actual meaning of this monthly goal.

Ouch! Surely, this is the opposite of what was intended. A good business might want to identify inefficient processes, or it might want to create suggestions for process improvement, but a good business would not want to create inefficient processes.

I believe that the writer got carried away with assembling popular corporate buzz-words into something that looked like a worthwhile goal but actually would be bad for business.

Solutions:
“Identify two process-improvement opportunities.”
“Create two process-improvement suggestions.”