Guffipedia
Lucy Kellaway’s dictionary of business jargon and corporate nonsense
Drive
Translation into plain English Control a vehicle
Perpetrator Accenture
Usage example "We also help our Forest Products clients use electronic commerce and the Internet to drive incremental value."
Lucy’s commentary (Writing in 2003) I drive a Ford Galaxy. Accenture does a lot of driving, too, but its driving doesn't involve wheels. Instead, it "drives" growth. Or new revenues. Or change. All this driving gives the impression that the entity behind the wheel is in control - which is almost bound not to be the case.
