Entrepreneurial Room 101 - Week 3

by Startacus Admin

Matt Trinetti, Director of The Escape School, Escape the City's education arm

proposes that “using the word “Hacking” to make everything sound sexier” should be assigned to Room 101:

Can we just call modern-day "hacking" what it really is? It’s being resourceful. It’s being an entrepreneur (although that word may have already been banished…). It’s seeing an obstacle, thinking differently than most people, and circumventing the obstacle methodically and with a fury.

I guess using “hacking” is a lot easier than spelling this all out, so I understand why it has caught on. But I think hacking it’s quickly approaching its overuse tipping point. Similar to the way “synergy,” “outside the box,” and “incentivize” have been recently ridiculed, even in the corporate world, I think “hacking” is headed in a similar direction. So let’s just nudge it down to where it’s already heading: Room101.

Yet I can’t blame us for using the word so generously. Attaching “hacking” to something is a hack itself — it’s a seductive hint that the holy grail is (finally!) within reach. Once something is paired with “hacking,” it’s been figured out and mastered. And because we need to know all of the answers in this mysterious universe, WE. MUST. CLICK.

We’re no longer marketing, selling, and scaling our products and services; we’re “Growth Hacking.” We’re not merely traveling the world on a dime, opening credit cards for the frequent flyer miles, and sleeping on strangers’ couches; we’re “Travel Hacking.” We’re not just striving to live productive, balanced, and meaningful lives; we’re “Life Hacking.

We probably have called our latest Escape Guide "A Guide to Hacking Your MBA Decision." But we didn't. So maybe I’m just bitter because I’m not really good at “hacking.” Or maybe I just can’t trust I know what the word means any longer. Either way, let’s assign “Hacking " into Room101!

Click here to relegate “using the word “Hacking” to make everything sound sexier” into Room 101!

Check out the 3rd pitch on page 4…

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Published on: 24th February 2014