What does "Pet Project" actually mean?
Benno Maggi explains in his column "What does... actually mean?" terms from the field of marketing and communication. This time he shares his thoughts on the term "pet project".
A phenomenon that has gained great popularity through the Covid pandemic has now also received a name in our country, albeit an English one: the phenomenon of first-person projects.
Or just Pet Projects, which literally translates Pet project means. Given that the home office period will soon be coming to an end, this translation is not entirely far-fetched either. But it is worth taking a closer look at the term and the phenomenon surrounding it in two respects.
Firstly, linguistically: as if we were suddenly all animal lovers, the English term pet project is applied instead of the German equivalent favorite or private project. This may have its origins in the fact that Millennials are slowly taking over.
According to a study by U.S. market research firm YPulse, 7 percent of Millennials said they adopted a pet during COVID-19 so they wouldn't be alone during the quarantine. But even without the pandemic, they are a generation of pet parents: 76 percent of 20- to 38-year-olds in the U.S. have a pet, 50 percent of whom have a dog and 35 percent a cat.
Projects that go to the dogs or are for the cat
Which brings us to the second point, the content: The term is used to describe a project that primarily serves the personal satisfaction and less the goal or the importance of a task. So if you call a project your pet project, you run the risk of being looked at askance by your clients and superiors. Either because they do not know what is meant by this, or because they fear that too much self-interest is put into it and the actual goal is forgotten. In order for pet projects to be successful from an entrepreneurial point of view and not to go to the dogs, a good mixture of self-interest and self-motivation is required, as well as a willingness to provide services. The latter is sometimes forgotten when the stroking of one's own ego takes precedence over the success of the project.
* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.
