Dilution of Meaning

I’ve long been fascinated by the meaning of words and their origins. Awful, for example, once meant “deserving of awe” rather than a feeling of disgust or discontent. Guess originally meant to take aim. The word sophisticated used to refer to a form of corruption. What’s more intriguing is not the path these words must have taken on their journey from their origin to their present destination, but rather that they weren’t cemented to the ground in the first place. What inertia must have been around to budge these words into motion? Years, if not decades, of misuse softened their footing until our culture took them for a ride like an unwilling passenger in a mosh pit.

The same dilution is true for partnering. While it’s literal translation remains the same, the intrinsic value it carries in corporate life has become a shadow of it’s former self. Now, rather than it’s own discipline, the art of alliance development is likened to it’s better understood and easier to grasp relatives: sales and marketing.

For evidence simply go to any recruiting (monster.com) or social contact site (LinkedIn.com) and search for the word “partner”. Countless entries will appear. In Austin some 251 people currently feature the word “alliance” in their title in one fashion or another. This reminds me of the end of Sparticus when, enslaved and facing death, everyone stood and claimed they were “Sparticus”.