For the past six months, the wordsmiths at the International Association of Business Communicators have been moaning about corporate buzzwords at our LinkedIn group.
Jargon categories
We yawn at “think outside the box,” “paradigm shift” and other over-used phrases. We express outrage over nouns forced to become verbs.
We are grossed out by “open the kimono” and dehumanized by “human capital.”
We know that most employees think “transformation” means “layoffs.”
We understand that anyone new to the organization, whose first language is not English or who skipped ivy league business school does not understand many management buzz words. But they are afraid to ask, lest they look stupid.
The buzz word dialect may work when the executive tribe is communicating with each other. But when executives, or the communication crafters who represent them, are trying to connect with anyone outside the tribe, these buzz words should be replaced with language that everyone understands.
Speak their language; don’t expect them to learn yours.
I’m not saying that none of this jargon should ever be used. But please, approach with extreme caution, like a yellow light that’s about to turn red on a dark and stormy night.
The list
Here are some of the words that upset business writers in this 15,000-member organization.
- alignment
- as you are aware
- at the end of the day
- bandwith
- best in breed
- best in class
- blue ocean strategy
- blue sky thinking
- breakout
- business critical
- buy-in
- calibration meeting
- circle back
- circle the wagons
- clearly
- cross-functional socialization
- customer centricity
- cyberspace
- deep dive
- deliverable
- drink the kool aid
- emotional intelligence
- empowerment
- execution
- expedite
- face time
- facilitate
- game changer
- getting a leg up
- going forward
- guru
- herding cats
- human capital
- incentivize
- innovate
- in this space
- it’s all good
- leadership imperative
- level the playing field
- leverage
- literally
- low-hanging fruit
- monetize
- move forward
- my ask
- my two cents
- new media
- next generation
- noodling
- not rocket science
- onboarding
- on the same page
- open the kimono
- optimization
- outside the box
- paradigm shift
- pick my brain
- playing on the same team
- pushing the envelope
- quick wins
- robust
- run it up the flagpole
- shovel ready
- singing from the same song sheet
- socialize
- social media ROI
- state of the art
- strategic decision
- sustainability
- sweet spot
- synergy
- tactical
- take it offline
- teachable moment
- think laterally
- to be honest with you
- transformation
- transparency
- turnkey
- value added
- walk the talk
- walk the walk
Is there hope that business leaders will start thinking instead of defaulting to jargon?
Yes, concludes discussion participant Helen Slater, of Strata Communications in New Zealand: “I am confident that, at the end of the day, we will gain some quick wins through onboarding then socialising the concept of eliminating jargon. Going forward, we will all be on the same page – indeed singing from the same song sheet – and be thinking out of the box when it comes to the language we utilise in the C-suite. Initially, it will be similar to herding cats, and the process will identify the square pegs in the round holes, but we will achieve some upside and a paradigm shift as we reach out and break the silos through the use of intelligible language.”
Any to add?
Thanks for the photo, Marc Falardeau.
