Last week one of Tyler Cowen's readers asked him why corporate-speak exists. Cowen's answer:
People disagree in corporations, often virulently, or they would disagree if enough real debates were allowed to reach the surface. The use of broad generalities, in rhetoric, masks such potential disagreements and helps maintain corporate order and authority. Since it is hard to oppose fluffy generalities in any very specific way, a common strategy is to stack everyone's opinion or points into an incoherent whole. Disagreement is then less likely to become a focal point within the corporation and warring coalitions are less likely to form. ...
Real "straight talk" very often is not compatible with authority, as it breeds conflict. Do political leaders give us much real straight talk? Do CEOs in their public addresses?