I served on a quality control committee at one of my employers. In the QC meetings the various department heads would report on how many mistakes were made in their areas, the impact of those mistakes, and what was being done to prevent the mistakes from recurring.
Except that they refused to use the word ‘mistake.’ Instead they used the word ‘variance,’ even when speaking with each other informally.
‘Variance’ completely eliminates any sense of urgency when it comes to resolving problems. It sounds great if you want to make a good impression when talking to someone outside your company, but removing urgency is the last thing you want internally when it comes to solving problems.
