Okay, let me tell you about this one time we ended up with a really, really dumb team name. It wasn’t funny, just awkward.
We were kicking off a new internal project, nothing huge, but needed a codename or something. We got into a room, whiteboard ready, supposed to be a quick thing. People started throwing out ideas, some serious, some trying to be clever. Then this one guy, let’s call him Dave, blurts out a name. I won’t repeat it here, but it was definitely juvenile, kinda leaning into that whole “bro culture” thing, maybe a bit edgy, but mostly just cringe.
Here’s the kicker: nobody really shot it down immediately. There were a few awkward chuckles, maybe an eye roll or two, but everyone was kind of tired, wanted to get out of the meeting. Someone might have mumbled “uh, okay?” and somehow, it just… stuck. It got written on the board, then put into the initial project setup docs.
The Problem Starts
At first, it was just an internal thing. But then we had to actually use the name. You know how it goes:
- Mentioning it in daily stand-ups.
- Putting it in email subject lines to other departments.
- Having our manager refer to “Project [That Dumb Name]” in wider meetings.
It felt unprofessional. Embarrassing, actually. You could see people outside our immediate team kind of doing a double-take when they heard it. It just wasn’t a good look. It made us look childish.
A few of us started talking quietly amongst ourselves. Like, “Seriously, we gotta change this.” It wasn’t even about being offended, necessarily, it was just plain stupid and made interactions awkward. So, we decided to bring it up officially.
Trying to Fix It
Easier said than done. We brought it up in our next team meeting. Dave, the guy who suggested it, got a bit defensive, saying stuff like “Oh come on, it’s just a joke, can’t anyone take a joke anymore?” A couple of others seemed to agree, or maybe they just didn’t want the hassle of changing things. Changing the name now meant updating documentation, code repositories, project tracking tools… it wasn’t a huge amount of work, but it was friction.
Our team lead was hesitant too, probably didn’t want to admit they let it slide in the first place. We had a couple of back-and-forths. It felt like pulling teeth just to correct something obviously silly.
Eventually, sanity prevailed. I think our manager’s boss must have heard the name and raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, changing it became a priority. We had another quick huddle, much less “creative” this time. We just picked something boring and descriptive. Took maybe 5 minutes.
The whole experience was a lesson, though. It showed how easily inertia sets in, even for something small like a team name. And how nobody wants to be the first person to say “Hey, this is dumb” in a group setting, especially when everyone else is quiet. We wasted time and energy dealing with the fallout of a bad joke that wasn’t even funny to begin with. Definitely made me more careful about just letting things slide, even small stuff, in team settings after that. Just speak up early, you know?
