Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector
A digital homage to Philip Broughton's 1968 management-jargon matrix.
Each digit (0–9) picks one word per column.
A digital homage to Philip Broughton's 1968 management-jargon matrix.
Each digit (0–9) picks one word per column.
Philip Broughton, a program analyst at the U.S. Public Health Service, published his Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector in Time magazine on 13 May 1968. Frustrated by impenetrable bureaucratic jargon, he built a satirical 10×10×10 matrix of management vocabulary. Any three-digit number maps to a grammatically correct, authoritative-sounding phrase that is entirely devoid of meaning.
"No-one will have the remotest idea of what you're talking about. But the important thing is that they're not going to admit it."— Philip Broughton, 1968
As a systems engineer who has navigated the corporate landscape, I felt the original 1968 jargon matrix, while brilliant, deserved an update for our modern era of AI, cloud computing, and agile frameworks. The Modern 2026 and Chaos modes are my additions to Philip Broughton's classic satire, bringing his concept into the 21st century.
Original concept by Philip Broughton, published in Time magazine, 1968.