What Did Meg Whitman Really Mean?

As CEO of your company, your words are important. The messages that you deliver in public are evaluated by your investors, staff, suppliers, customers, competitors, marketplace and media. People will judge you and your company by your words. They might misjudge your message. That’s why it’s important to thoughtfully choose your words to convey the right intended message. This advice applies to both spoken and written messages.

This statement from Meg Whitman, CEO of HP Enterprise, offers a practical review of what not to say. It wasn’t an idle retort. This appeared as a status update on her Linkedin profile. The smiling photo that accompanied the message suggests that she was both comfortable and pleased with the statement. She might feel differently after reading this review.

Let’s analyze her words and explore the possible unintended messages.

“I want to be crystal clear”

That seems like a good opening statement. Unfortunately, the rest of the statement drastically clashes with this well-sounding promise.

“HPE is not getting out of software”

That’s easy to understand and sounds clear. If she had stopped at this point, it would have been crystal clear, believable and memorable.

But she continues and muddies it up. By the time you read the full statement you’re likely confused and annoyed. When you glance back at the innocent looking opening phrase (I want to be crystal clear) you would be justified in labeling it a lie. If the first statement is shown to be a lie then everything else is deemed to be part of the lie.

“Moving forward”

This phrase is an overused cliché that is meaningless. It adds nothing of value or understanding to the message. It’s a silly phrase because it suggests that we might also move backward. If you’re feeling bold, the next time a speaker starts their sentence with this phrase, interrupt the person and ask, “And what are your plans for moving backward?”

I suggest that this phrase be banned from your lexicon. Park it alongside the verbal nuisances umm and ah.

“we will double down”

This curious phrase is from Black Jack. When a player chooses to “doubles down” she is doubling her bet and agreeing to accept only one more card. Is Meg using this analogy to suggest that HPE will double their investment in some part of the business? Was she talking about Research and Development, Marketing or executive compensation?

It that’s what she meant, it would have been clear to say “We will double our investment in product development”.

Perhaps Meg got her Black Jack analogies confused. Maybe she was referring to the splitting of the company into two separate entities, HP INC and HP Enterprise. That Black Jack move is called “splitting pairs”.

What did she really mean by saying “double down”? Perhaps I’ve misinterpreted the Black Jack analogy and she was merely thinking about a KFC sandwich.

“on the software capabilities”

This phrase follows the “double down” comment. The noun here is “capabilities”. Does she mean that they will double the capabilities of their software? Will they make it twice as fast?

Will each software product expand to have twice the number of features or capabilities? Will they simply double the fees?

“that power and differentiate our infrastructure solutions”

This appears to be a phrase clearly intended to confuse the reader and obfuscate the message. Because it continues the sentence, this phrase is a qualifier for the preceding part. In other words, she’s only talking about doubling down on software capabilities that power and differentiates the infrastructure solutions – but none of the other software capabilities. I don’t know if there are others, but there must be if she needs to qualify the capabilities with this phrase.

I don’t understand what the word “power” means in this context. The word “differentiate” suggests that she’s only talking about HPE products that are distinct within the market. Does that mean she plans to discontinue products for which there are competitive alternatives? “Infrastructure solutions” sounds like a wiring problem or a blown fuse.

“and are critical in a cloud environment”

This is an additional qualifier to the software capabilities. That suggests that the only capabilities she’s addressing are the ones that satisfy the previous criteria plus this one. Again, I don’t know the intended context here. Perhaps she means security. If you mean security, say security. If you’re not sure what you mean, say nothing. Imagine how refreshing that would be.

Time to Examine the Cards

What did Meg Whitman really mean? Who knows? We don’t know what the intended message was or who it was intended to influence. What was the purpose of issuing this statement?  What precipitated this statement? From my perspective, the message was confusing, annoying and dishonest. Perhaps we’ll soon see a retraction or clarification of this “crystal clear” message.

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Disastrous Opening to the Conference

It started 20 minutes late

A full day conference will likely get behind schedule at some point during the day. It starts with a three minute delay, then a presentation that’s five minutes too long, a break extends an extra 12 minutes,  unexpected announcements steal seven minutes, a sponsor drones on forever… Surprise, surprise – by late afternoon your conference is running 20 to 40 minutes behind schedule.

Imagine starting the day 20 minutes behind schedule. When the program finally started at 9:20am there was neither explanation nor an apology. That didn’t feel like a good start to the day. The audience could only wonder when the day might end.

“How are you guys?”

That was the opening statement from the conference chair at 9:20 am. That’s a ridiculous question at any time because no one can answer that question. No one can speak on behalf of the group. That question is usually posed to satisfy the speaker. The speaker will assume that everyone is happy simply because there is no answer and no one feels qualified to answer on behalf of the group.

I was tempted to shout out “I’m annoyed that you’re starting late without an apology and explanation. I’m also insulted that you posed such a ridiculous question. When you ask, ‘How are you?’ Do you really want the truth?” But I restricted that to my inside voice.

Naturally, there was no reply to his stupid question. He probably didn’t care or even realize that we might feel annoyed with the delayed opening.

The second annoying thing about his question was the phrase “You guys” because that’s trailer trash talk. The major portion of the audience was university students who expected to enter employment in the business world. If they hope to earn respect they will need to clean up their use of colloquial language. When speaking to a group the correct term is “you”.

The smaller portion of the audience was representatives from business.  To the students these people might become advisors, mentors, recruiters and future employers. They might already be judging the students based on first impressions.

20 Members of the Team Introduced Themselves

The conference chair then called upon each of his conference team to introduce themselves to the group. Perhaps he thought that portrayed him as a team player. Instead, it was an agonizing waste of time. I appreciate that they were volunteers and deserved recognition but this wasn’t the time or best way to recognize them. I believe this choice demonstrated poor leadership and decision making skills.

“Welcome Everyone”

After the lengthy round of self-introductions this was the next phrase from the conference chair.

If he wanted to welcome us then his first words should have been “Welcome”. That would have been more effective than “How are you guys?”

“We Worked Really Hard”

Instead of stating the benefits of attending the conference he delivered this lame claim of effort. That phrase is either an excuse or a plea for appreciation. Who cares how hard you worked? That’s not important.  What can you deliver? How will we benefit? What’s in it for us?

Hello

Finally, the opening keynote speaker was introduced. His opening slide was the word “Hello”. What a thoughtless opening slide! Perhaps this speaker had never delivered a keynote speech. Why was he the keynote speaker? Apparently he was the CEO of a successful advertising agency. During his presentation he chronicled his rise in the advertising industry through several agencies before launching his own company. He offered important insights about connecting with your market and delivering your message. He didn’t demonstrate that in his presentation.

“So, what I’m gonna try to do…”

After the Hello slide, this was his opening line. How terrible! The opening line of your presentation, especially a keynote speech must engage the audience and create anticipation to hear your message.

Would that line grab your attention? Would you immediately sit up in your seat and be poised to listen to the rest of the story?

There are several mistakes with that line.

It’s trash talk – starting with the word “so” and using the slang “gonna”.

It’s vague and a waste of seven words.

“Try” sounds apologetic and uncertain. Do you remember Yoda’s thoughts on the word Try?

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

Yoda

The speaker’s opening line was about himself and his efforts – not about the audience. You’d think that an advertising expert would know the importance of talking about your audience.

What do you do when you’re bored in a meeting? Perhaps you check the time or your messages. I glanced at my watch noticed that we were 58 minutes into the program. My consoling thought was “Good thing I wasn’t planning to stay all day”.

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George Torok
The Speech Coach for Executives

The CEO as Chief Public Speaker

The Many Roles of the CEO

• Leader and Chief Role Model
• Corporate Culture Setter
• Chief Marketing Person
• Chief Sales Person
• Chief Mapmaker
• Chief Trust Builder
• Chief Public Speaker

If you are the CEO of your organization
Your staff, the industry and the public are watching you. When you hide we wonder why? What might you be hiding? As CEO you must be putting your best foot and face forward often. We need to hear your message. We are watching you – what you do, say and how you say it. Put your face and message in front of your staff, your clients and the market place. And each time you do – do it with intent.

We want to know who we can trust
Can we trust your organization? To answer that question we need to know you. Can we trust you? We expect you to be ethical, open and available. If you are not, then we don’t believe that you are adding value to us. We quickly punish organizations that abuse our trust.

Why should the CEO speak in public?
It allows the public to put a face to your company. And we prefer to deal with people instead of faceless corporations. It will help to build confidence with customers, investors, suppliers and staff. MBWA goes much farther then hanging around the water cooler. It might offer you free publicity to get your message out with far more credibility than advertising.

How to improve your return on investment
Invest in the skill development of you and your key people. Invest in presentation skills coaching for your CEO. Invest in presentation skills training for all your key executives. Invest in communication skills training for your managers and sales professionals. Work with George Torok, The Speech Coach for Executives to train your executives for maximum return on investment.


You can call George Torok for a private consultation at 905-335-1997
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