The Hateful Eight.

1. The word “insight.” First off, I went the first 20 years of my career without hearing it. Now people ask for them like they come a dime a dozen.

Seriously, tell me five insights that have had business impact.

I can think of two: Putting baking soda in the fridge and adding an egg to cake mix.

2. People who ask on a conference call “who just joined.” Look, I have news for you. Chinese industrial spies are not stealing your powerpoints. And for someone to pirate their way onto your conference call, they’d have to guess the 11-digit log in. Roughly impossible.

BTW, the people who constantly ask “who just joined?” usually that’s their only contribution to the call.

3. 11-digit log-ins for a phone call. Really, what we do is not so important that it needs to be regarded as ‘top-secret.’

4. Hold music.

5. Over-priced corporate cafeterias.

6. Panic.

7. Self-importance.

8. Lists.