Do we really have to?
I love words. Words change the world. But business language often digs a hole and buries great words alive and instead resurrects a corporate language corpse spouting dull and meaningless words.
Recently, I was working with a group to improve their writing – something we do a lot – and the word enhance came up time and time again.
It’s joined to our corpse at the hip. We enhance our competitiveness or pave the way for enhancements, or are committed to enhancements.
Don Watson, in his great book, The Death Sentence (yes, he’ means writing, not capital punishment) says enhance is “the McDonald’s of corporate English”. I’m with him.
Enhance can mean anything. That’s why people like using it. So, try for an enhance-free document or an enhance-free week.
If you do, you’ll have more life and more meaning in your writing.