Carnac Does CarMax

We make too many assumptions about our language use in business meetings. I am told of a recent story in which a top executive told his management team that he was going "to do a Carnac" to find the answer to a particular question.

This official held a piece of paper to his head, simulating the way in which former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson imitated a psychic by holding an envelope to his head. Unfortunately, some of his staff never heard of Carnac, did not quite hear what the boss was saying, and left the meeting thinking that their organization was about to do something with the used-car giant CarMax. Once again, you can't make this stuff up.

It is a lesson for us all to understand the dynamics of intergenerational communication and to assume nothing. Remember what legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach always said, "It's not what you say; it's what they hear."

p.s. And speaking of language, one had to marvel at the Democrats' use of the term "prebuttal" in their so-called response to the State of the Union Address ahead of its actual delivery. It is a sign of the times that we look to respond to something before it even happens.