I am speechless. (Almost.)

I was with clients last night who told me that a well-known business consulting company was hired to look at my clients' organizational structure and recommended a drive toward "functional excellence."

Here's a definition I found online of "functional excellence."

Functional Excellence

"Companies that excel in delivering value to their customers also excel at managing the internal value chain — high performance internal processes. In an era of focus on cost, and a need to outsource all but the most critical functions, the requirements for excellence in internal functions has never been greater."

Turns out "functional excellence" is new consulting-speak for firing.

BTW:
Years ago I abruptly quit the highest paying job I'll ever have as the ECD of an enormous digital agency. My wife put it best. "You made one mistake," she said. "You're working for consultants and you thought they were human."