It turns out that “maximizer” isn’t an official, Old English Dictionary-approved word. This is weird to me.
The people I know in the iSector--or social good space or for cause or whatever else you call it–are full-on, all-out maximizers. If we’re not trying to maximize our impact–our collective shot at making the world a better place–then what are we doing?
Based on a quick Internet search, it appears that a tanning product is the world’s foremost “impact maximizer”. This is more than a little discouraging. You and I are in the presence of people who maximize impact for a living and yet it’s a tanning product that gets all the glory.
I’m pretty sure the world will end up a better place if “maximizer” becomes synonymous with “someone who maximizes impact to make the world a better place” instead of “something that does a good job of tanning my skin.” So I don’t care that “maximizer” isn’t technically a word. I’m still going to use it. To seal the deal, I added it to the Claxon Lexicon. (Take that, OED!)