From Flailing to Flourishing, With No Pain or Sacrifice
“GE Capital Chief to Retire After Pivoting GE’s Finance Arm”
–headline, The Wall Street Journal (8/30/2016)
Once upon a time, corporations, sports teams, and election campaigns(!) that were flailing underperforming got restructured, overhauled, or otherwise 
remade (presumably, into something more focused, efficient, and — hopefully — successful).
Now?
They “pivot.”
Bloodless
Unlike a restructuring, in a “pivot,” no one gets fired, has to admit mistake(s), or is otherwise “taken to the woodshed” (another old, abandoned term).
There’s just a shift in emphasis.
How . . . nice. 🙂
P.S.: Of course, today we’re long past the Truman-esque, “I made a mistake/the buck stops here” accountability.
At best, you’ll hear a much weaker acknowledgement that “mistakes were made” (which ones? by whom?).
See also, George Carlin’s juxtaposition of football and baseball terms in “Football, Baseball & Real Estate Metaphors.”
Or anything by William Safire.
