PhillyInc

Stop by Philadelphia City Council chambers today to hear politicians and city officials use this phrase with a straight face and not even a hint of irony. In fairness, it came up in connection with the Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion as a way to talk about minority contracts and employment without getting into the quota quagmire, with its many legal implications. In fact, the term seems on its way to becoming a euphemism for a goal somebody may or may want to meet but has no real actual legal obligation to fulfill.

Whether or not it's legal fig leaf, the term has become pretty popular everywhere lately, in part due to its recent use in pollution-emissions debates: According to the huge Nexis archive, the term "aspirational goal" was used 1,336 times in all English-language newspapers, magazines and other media so far this year. It was used just 224 times last year, 121 times in 2005, 120 times in 2004, 99 times in 2003, and so forth. Aspirational Goal seems to be a certified "buzz term" this year, while the old problems are, well, the same old problems.

Still, just looking at the words: Aren't all goals aspirational? What are non-aspirational goals?

I will clear up all my e-mails. (Yeah, when I'm 90.)

I will treat all my bosses with respect. (To their faces!)

I will manage all my employees with respect. (To their faces!)

Maybe some people set goals without any intention of trying to meet them, like mine with the e-mails. But then, those aren't goals. They're lies.

- Jane M. Von Bergen