From time to time I use the term “From a 10,000 foot view…”. This is corporate buzz speak for taking a broad look at something without getting into the details. From a business vision and strategy perspective, it is common to start at a high and broad perspective and then work down to the details (i.e., "into the weeds").Many business professors, and even our President, encourage business executives to stop using such buzz phrases as they can serve as a crutch for intelligent decision making and implementation.
"These are all words and phrases that dumb people use to sound smart. It's ludicrous. I mean, if you are in a meeting and you say ‘From a 30,000 foot view, this looks like a great idea’, aren't you just saying that you are too stupid to look at the details of the proposal to figure out if it will actually work? Your employees lose all respect for you. That's why when I take my chair in the Oval Office, one of my first orders of business will be to outlaw these inane words and phrases."
- President Obama
I understand the President's point, but personally I still like this phrase as long as it is not overused and used properly.
So I use “10,000 feet”. Obama refers to 30,000 feet. In the last week I heard one business professional say “30,000 feet” and another business owner say “50,000 feet”.
So, what is the proper “foot view” for high level, summary reviews of situations?
The good news for anyone using the phrase is that it is mere corporate buzz. So, there is a plenty of leeway on proper phrase usage. Not the a Google search is the proper way to determine correct phrase usage, but for sake of time I ran a Google search. It shows various results for each phrase height, with each search showing articles by businesses professionals, organizations, politicians, and academics using each height. That really is not an answer, but it at least shows that I am not alone in my club. I am sticking with 10,000 feet!
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Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP is an Indianapolis law firm focusing on business law, information technology law (including SaaS law and legal technology consulting), private equity consulting, and business and Internet litigation.
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