Subtleness is important in working place.

Being subtle is to avoid direct conflict and argument. People in industry, especially middle level managers like VP GM etc. are very very smart in this way. everyone will get the underneath message without having to shouting it out loud. The higher you go, the more important this becomes.

For example if the message is" the project failed because the manager is an idiot", you should say "... because the manager has genetic predispositation towards sub-optimal performance"