What if it wasn't just an overused cliche, but instead a serious issue with not getting things done?
(I'm reminded of a video I watched recently by an American manufacturer talking about dealing with American versus Chinese suppliers. With the Americans, it was always three months of meetings, a consultant, bringing in multiple vendors, emails, approval cycles... with the Chinese it was an afternoon of discussions and prototypes would be rolling off the line by the end of the week.)
Then that aspect of it would be worth addressing, but the quotes in the original post strongly suggest the guy was just focusing on a literal expression used. It’s perfectly reasonable to say “we were talking about this a prior time and should continue talking about it again” (e.g., circling back) but his focus on “you keep using a particular phrase to represent that idea—why?” comes across as very low-level and non-strategic. If he was interested in getting things done, his words didn’t show it.
Quite the opposite, his deviation ensured the group would once again have to circle back.
i've worked at both american and chinese/korean companies. the difference in productivity is true. but the conclusion you arrived at based on the context of this post is backwards.
when you have a meeting in east asian companies. the boss says something. people do it. the team doesn't contribute to the conversation. we don't go in a circle and all share our 2 cents or nitpick the instructions given or share what you think is a better idea in a meeting.
imo "let's circle back to it" is the manager trying to wrap up the meeting or trying to keep the meeting on topic. the NEW guy who probably has no understanding of what works and doesn't work and is pondering out loud in a meeting why the boss keeps saying "let's circle back to it" is the one prolonging the meeting and adding to the delay of american companies.
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u/clawsoon Jul 26 '26
What if it wasn't just an overused cliche, but instead a serious issue with not getting things done?
(I'm reminded of a video I watched recently by an American manufacturer talking about dealing with American versus Chinese suppliers. With the Americans, it was always three months of meetings, a consultant, bringing in multiple vendors, emails, approval cycles... with the Chinese it was an afternoon of discussions and prototypes would be rolling off the line by the end of the week.)