I submit to you, dear reader, that much of the excitement and fuss around “adding value”, at its core, is just an adult's attempt to be cool in the business world. If other people think you are smart or cool, then you might gain the adoration of management and your co-workers. You might get better work assignments, more perks, or even a better job. Some people think that all you have to do is emulate a parrot and repeat the catch phrase of the month in order to advance in their careers. They need to be careful about this.
Going back to being a kid for a moment, cool has an antithesis. Cool's opposite has gone by a number of aliases, words like: square; dull; boring; drab; or my personal favorite. Are you ready for it? OK, here it comes.
Phoney
Remember “phoney”? How about “poser”? Or “fake”? Or “wannabee”? These words describe things that aren't genuine, real, or cool. Phoney isn't the real thing. Phoney is a pale substitute for something of value. Phoney is the inability to walk the walk when you talk the talk.
Phoney is crap, not value.
A brilliant writer named Theodore (Ted) Sturgeon once coined a short but pithy phrase: “Ninety percent of anything is crud.” Crud is a synonym for crap, of course. Ted knew perfectly well that the world is full of fakes, posers, and talentless hacks (the author isn't immune to this problem). Or, to put it in a kinder way, there are a lot of people in the world who just don't have the necessary qualities to produce good work at what they are trying to do at any given point in time. Some people cause problems for themselves by exerting their energies at something they aren't good at, when they could be very successful if they tried something else.
Add value if you can; absorb value if you can't
Many people lack the skills or knowledge to make a meaningful contribution to a specific task or assignment. However, they feel the need to pretend that they understand what needs to be done in order to gain acceptance. They will promote their purported, yet fictional ability to “add value” in many situations in order to gain acceptance and esteem from the colleagues. The perpetual promoter runs the risk of becoming yesterday's flash-in-the-pan. Unless the talent is there, most people should not go around trying to make people think they can make a positive contribution in a given situation. They are better off keeping their mouths shut, listening, and learning. Repetition make help you gain popularity for awhile, but if the substance isn't there, your song is going drop of the charts and pull you down with it.
