Today’s post is a bit of fun.  As you read on, if it gets too frustrating feel free to drop- off.

If you have any thoughts about today’s musings let me know as usual.  Be nice.

Semantics

Derived from the Greek language the English use of the word is to describe the study of meaning.  I find semantics fun to play with and many a colleague, acquaintance or yes even a family member has been thoroughly antagonized by me in this space.

Today’s phrase – “Do nothing”

“Do” is a present tense verb that can be conjugated in a number of different tenses – doing, did, will do.   The short definition is “to perform an action”.

Nothing is a pro-noun which simple refers to “not a single thing”

I really enjoy the phrase “do nothing” because it does have meaning but on deeper analysis the meaning is not based on the literal definition of the words involved.   That is if “do” means taking an action and “nothing” refers to not a single thing then there is no action to take.  The phrase however has meaning, if you do nothing you are in fact doing something.  Albeit nothing  (Feeling crazy yet?)

How about some business examples?

Let’s say you have received a customer complaint and you are reviewing with your boss the various ways you can respond – in essence you are walking through the various actions you can take, ultimately to decide what to do.  In this fictional example let’s assume the options are:

• apologize and refund the purchase price
• apologize and replace the merchandize
• deny responsibility, suggest the customer find someone who cares
• do nothing

In this case one option is to “do nothing”.  The action taken in response is nothing, which since it involves no specific activity is not really an action OR wait, not taking action is an action in itself so in fact “do nothing” is an action.  The thing is do is perform an action and “do nothing” is really the action of not taking action.  (Head hurt yet?)

“Did nothing” is even better.  Did is the past tense of “do”, meaning something was done; However, nothing means the not a single thing was done, so no action.

And the point?

The phrase “do nothing” has great meaning and in context of the situation can be used effectively to lead to a postive result, although that result is not derived from the actual doing of something but rather the opposite.  Use this phrase carefully but realize, particularly in discussions around various options that it is a real option and a viable (dare I say it) action.