The first of the Analects of Confucius is: “The beginning of wisdom is to call all things by their proper name.” We, as a culture and as a society, have strayed dramatically from this advice and hardly ever use words, which describe the truth of our intent.

Years ago the United States had a Cabinet post called The War Department. The purpose of The War Department was to wage and win wares. Right or wrong, it was clear.

Today we have a Defense Department; it neither defends nor wins. Its purpose has been altered along with the word describing it. We also have an Education Department, which appears to be mislabeled for it apparently has nothing to do with education. Perhaps it should be called the Department of Testing and Spending Billions of Dollars.

Why is it important to name things well? Because when we sell our services and our skills people may “hear” the corrupted version of the words we use.

Fifty thousand American soldiers died in Vietnam in order to “…stop the spread of communism…” Today our government controls huge aspects of our economy; including now Health Care. There is talk of “universal” this and “universal” that. Did we stop the spread of communism or did those words get corrupted to sell us something?

If you’re involved in selling… let’s talk.