1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
IranIsrael-Hamas warUkraine

Betriebsblindheit

Learn a funny, quirky German word each week with DW's Word of the Week feature. This week: Betriebsblindheit.

https://p.dw.com/p/Rl7t
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Maybe it's all those pointless forms you're stuck having to fill out just to get anything done, or that monthly staff meeting that drags on and on. In German there's a word for routine office practices that no one ever questions but don't make any sense. Frankly, everyone knows they're just a waste of time, but you'd better not let your boss overhear you saying it. "Betriebsblindheit," literally "business blindness," hits the nail on the head, don't you think?