in reply to Talking across great divides

The following comments apply to large organizations.

Supervisors often take training courses. Often they come back from the course with a binder or a book about what they were supposed to have learned. Perhaps several of these books are laying about the supervisor's office. Read them, and learn the latest jargon.

If you use this jargon and you get an even more blank stare, it may be that you are working in a hierarchy in which you are not supposed to be a person who comes up with new ideas, or the person you are telling them to has no way to bring them forward. In this case, find the person who is assigned to have new ideas, and tell them what idea you would like them to have next. Figure out how to get what you want out of this process before you use it.

In some organizations there are very specific requirements and formats for new ideas, and there is extensive review and justification. The process can have a high overhead, and it's not always worthwhile to execute it. For example, the system could have been created by contractors who are gone, and no one is available who can make even trivial changes.

It should work perfectly the first time! - toma