I am probably guilty of using it before, but I try to avoid using metaphors from war to describe anything. I would imagine a few minutes around Verdun in 1916 would have any of us praying for the opportunity to slog through whatever it is we feel makes for a difficult task.
i think it's a stupid, cliche saying. It's just like when people say "functional." Anything can be functional, just like anyone can be in the trenches.
But the saying to me means that it's someone who has put in time and effort in whatever field they're in. They can walk the walk in other words.
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I see it as a useful term to differentiate between the people who just talk about doing something (or lead from atop) and those who actually implement. Think football coach vs. linemen or CEO vs. CSR.
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"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -- T.S. Eliot
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit."-- Aristotle
I've forbidden any writers I edit from referring to themselves or anyone else as being "in the trenches" unless they actually train military personnel while standing in trenches.
I've also called a moratorium on describing any type of conditioning as "real world" unless it's for the purpose of contrasting training that takes place in an unreal world.
What does "in the trenches" mean to you?
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