Most developers take some amusement from managers' use (or overuse, or even abuse) of the latest cliches (synergy, win-win and leverage all spring immediately to mind), but it occurred to me this morning that some of them may actually have value as "Management Patterns".

With an appropriate "GoF"-like treatment of the subject, synonyms could be resolved (synergy and win-win from above, for example), and hopefully even the more and less successful ones determined from some objective research. Perhaps there is already such a body of reference but we developers are not aware of it.

This also raises the question of how developers are perceived when we use pattern names when talking to non-techies...