Ask the average business executive or key government official precisely what their company or department does and their brains fall out of their head and jargon springs to their lips. Frothy meaningless terms might be fine when you fall in love or during strong economic growth but they impede growth during economic downturns.
And what we are dealing with at present is not just an economic downturn it is a developing financial catastrophe — the worst is yet to come. Clear heads, words with meaning and purposeful action is imperative.
Jargon murders innovation. It cripples business meetings and blocks communication. There are three primary reasons why jargon is used, the first is to show that you are part of a group eg IT specialists, doctors or engineers. Or it is used to display that you’ve been reading the latest business journals or books and have gone on expensive business school courses where the air is often thick with jargon and sheep too cowed to bleat — “whaa-t does thaa-t mean?”
Jargon is always exclusionary, it communicates with members of the in-group and keeps out those not similarly qualified. But most of all, jargon or ra-ra-ra company visioning terms, which are also often monuments to meaningless phraseology, are used when people don’t really understand a subject. They fill their language with jargon in an attempt to appear important or clever and rely on the fact that most won’t ask: what do you mean?
Ask them, they won’t be able to tell you in simple English. And if they can’t explain what they do in simple English, it means they are failing to deliver because they are not entirely certain what is expected of them.
Government speech writers are notorious for using jargon or words that they don’t understand. The Weekender recently used some examples from a recent speech by Angie Motshekga, minister of basic education. The fact that the minister did not realise that her speech was meaningless makes one wonder what sort of delivery we can anticipate from her new department. These are just two examples: “These teachers we want in class on time teaching are also reported to be feeling overwhelmed by neverending external demands on their work and making them resentful and being distracted from their work.”
Talking of accountability she read: “The accountability system is weak because of a pervasive culture of resistance to strong measures of accountability within schools and not only teachers should be singled out for attention of failing schools, the accountability net stretches wider than individual teachers.”
Hopefully it extends to ministers with education portfolios who wouldn’t recognise grammar if it hit them.
Jargon and clichés prevent us thinking in new and original ways. It shows a tired, jaded or simply uninspiring individual. Avoid it. Some common examples include:
- Customer service industry
- End objective
- Time heals
- Very strategic activities
- People on the ground
- Empowerment/empowered
- Previously disadvantaged
- Both parties
- The grassroots
In media training I submitted a simple six-question survey to executives of a major company. The one question was “tell me what the best part of your job is”, the answer from one was: “Being in a space where the company vision is your guidance to innovate within our current market and potential new markets. Your boundary is only the vision which allows you think out of the box and push the envelope, take a rough idea and create a potential product/solution that will not only impact the clients but too those they serve and the sector they are within.”
Please tell me what that means. When I asked the group to clarify it (without identifying the author) — nobody could explain it, not even the author.
Another client ,who runs a brilliant technology group, had as the group’s purpose under the name of the company “technology driven solutions”. What do you mean by that, I asked? It’s a question that makes any IT person want to sit on the ground and weep because they can’t explain it. If you google the term there are companies offering a zillion different services that all refer to them as “technology driven solutions”. The question that needs to be asked over and over in a company, until they and their team find the answer is: “what do you do?” or “what do you hope to achieve?”
Let’s look at some companies who have successfully done that: Google says it aims to increase knowledge in the world and so Google teams persistently look for ways in which to do precisely that. Avis has long had a brand mantra that says “we are second best” to Hertz in the US “but we try harder”. By using simple terminology they provide a promise to consumers and a driver for staff — consistently better customer service which in hard times can give competitive advantage.
I advise clients when coming up with a new strategy to consider these five simple words that every journalist is taught to use in the first two sentences of a news story: who, what, where, why, how, when. Use it to describe your work, your goals — simplify, simplify, the more you do it the closer you get to the truth of what you do and hope to achieve.
In the end it is consumer trust and a respected brand promise that is understood by all staff that will spur a company forward in these economic times.
A few more tips: if you find yourself being tempted to say “tend to”, “always”, “even”, “most” about a group know that your use of language is cautioning you, you are about to make a sweeping generalisation that is going to insult someone. Don’t. Examples of what you should avoid:
• Even my mom can do this
• Women even drive trains nowadays
• Men always
• You know, some whites
• Kids are ungrateful
• Things were better (in the old days, under apartheid, before women worked, when men were still in charge)
• Teenagers nowadays
• The media always get it wrong
• The media always sensationalise
• Blondes always
This is a country with 11 official languages, we live in a globalised world with a plethora of languages and cultural traits that ensure we often speak past each other … to communicate you need to simplify.
Having spend decades in the IT industry, this article is right on the mark.
One can ruin any meeting or presentation by putting up a finger and asking: “what does this stand for” when a 3 of 4 letter acronym is used. Most presenters do not know the answer.
Do a recap of the latest statement in your own words and simply ask: “is that what you are trying to say?”. Many presenters crumble under the pressure of explaining.
I once heard somebody saying: “a good scientist/professor can explain a complicated matter in a simple language that makes a simple soul understand”. “BS” is not that kind of language.
On the side: I worked for a company where we a spray can on the table, marked “bullshit”. Anybody in the meeting as allowed to use it when appropriate. Smelly stuff but… did send the message.
Charlene, great article. I am totally opposed to POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. It denies you the right to be yourself. In business the same principles apply. Each industry just use own jargon.
We have been legislated out of our own personality, to satisfy the ruler.
You missed the other deadly expression – You know – when of course you don’t or you wouldn’t have asked. My partner is a fanatical “You Know” counter at presentations and one presenter topped out with over 200!
Clarity is now further obscured by peppering speeches with a multitude of languages, which ensures that you lose track of what is being said.
Charlene….I thinking we are singing from the same hymn sheet on this one. Bottom line, at the end of the day, is a paradigm shift to a whole new set of parameters. It’s all about playing the ball and blue sky thinking.
yes, yes, yes !!!! great one, just a pity some of the comments fall excactly into the jargon trap…paradigm shift ????
“Transformation” (boot out all the whites, replace them with blacks. Any resistance to it is “racist”.)
Charlene, The problem with a lot of people that resort to jargon, is that they think simplicity is synonymous with ignorance and stupidity. If you get a high level company or government job that you are not qualified for, you are going to be continuously guilty (cause you know how you got the job) so you will go to great lengths to appear as though you know what you are doing and what you are talking about,and a lot of this will require lofty vocabulary, thus helping you dig yourself into an even deeper hole.
Great piece, finally someone who sees the woods for the trees.
Bullard: you’re a legend!
Thabo Mbeki was the master of the hand wringing nervous tick and pseudo-intellectual gobbeldygook.
His signature “indeed”, used in virtually every, sentence, will not be missed
The latest international cliche is “to be honest”. Despite the endemic deceit and crookery going on in every corner of what we considered comfortable capitalism, everyone is “perfectly honest” these days
My worst business jargon phrase is “going forward” which thankfully, seems slowly to be fading from our lexicon
Spot on Charlene! I’m copying this article to my learned colleagues…
When all is said and done, at the end of the day : who, what, where, why, how, when = 6 words, not five!
One of the best english lessons I had was watching the movie “A River Runs Through It”. Tom Sherritt, playing Rev Maclean was home schooling his two boys. Whenever the required essay was presented by the older son, he was sent back to re-write it in half the number of words.
@Jon: ask the transformation freaks: Transforming what, from what into what and how will you be going about it? The answer will never come.
One of the predictable answers: “this is a challenge”…. (another one of those “non answers”)
“Indeed” true for all “Stake Holders”
Too, true, Charlene, but jargon’s ugly step-sisters who usually accompany her are euphemisms, cliches and political correctness – often bundled into 1 nice package by politicos.
Some examples:
Informal settlements – No, these are actually squatters, and you can bet that if they “informally settled” on the lush rolling lawns of Genadendal (Groote Schuur), they would be termed something other than “informal settlers”!
“Stakeholders” and “role players” – people.
“to be quite honest” – up until now, I have been talking utter crap.
“I was quoted out of context” – Oh shit – I’ve been caught out – better try and slide out of this without admitting what I said was wrong.
“This is a challenge for government” – we have not got a clue what the problem is, never mind how to fix it.
“We must do X, Y or Z” – I am stating the obvious, but not making any promises or committments whatsoever. In fact, the chances are that we will do zilch.
“The party is a broad church” – the party is a motley crew all jostling for a favoured position at the feeding trough.
“Political education / school” – Political indoctrination.
“Industrial action” – strike, or industrial inaction.
“Rolling mass action” – rolling mass inaction.
“cadre deployment” – Putting a political crony / friend / relative into a powerful well-paid position for which they have no qualifications and even less aptitude.
“Commissions (in the arms deal sense)” – bribes.
Charlene – how about putting together a South African jargon Dictionary / thesaurus?
Let’s not forget “unlocking value”
@Jon
“Colonise” (steal, rape, pillage, enslave,opress)….
These are the best, and some of the wittiest, responses I’ve ever read to any blog. Thank you!
that would be the 6 words that journalists use?
This is a great piece,everything very true .
Well Done .
I always thought the use of jargon by in particular our government officials is an indication of that he or she is not up to it ,not a sign of being smart.
The ultimate BS Fighter
http://www.dailynugget.com/2003/06/bullshit-fighter/
Automate BS
http://www.dack.com/web/bullshit.html
The Nelson Mandela Seventh Annual Leature , A Proffesor of economics NO JARGON
I think a jargon and cliche dictionary, proposed by Peter L, is a good example of how we can pluck the low hanging fruits. Just thought I would parachute that idea down to you Or is that not a cliche yet? and work in synergy.. Charlene how about a blog on complicated instructions? I am regularly frustrated by complicated instructions meted out by bureaucrats, who, when you express confusion, sort of sigh and look at the ceiling, or start repeating the same instructions again, only louder and faster. Watching John Cleese, in the “Meaning of Life” giving complicated instructions to school boys on where to put their clothes after school (lower peg or upper peg depending upon an array of bizarrely irrelevant circumstances) is probably the best antidote for such experiences.
One final thing, one man’s jargon and cliche is another man’s normal speak. Is it not correct that the cliche’s of the past became normal speak of today, like you know what I mean?
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk
Wonderful website, which offers alternatives to commonly used jargon. They also have a “golden bull” award, for examples of the worst offenders.
Charlene,
There is BS jargon used by politicians and others for the reasons you explained above. Then there is professional jargon used by experts in a field.
I can say in plain English what I want to get across:
Accountants destroy lots of value in the economy with normal accounting.
Do you grasp the full meaning of that?
I think not.
I have to use accounting jargon to try and get my fellow accountants to understand the full impact of the above statement on our economy and our lives.
I think you can only discuss a complex concept in plain English with someone who already fully understands the concept.
A plain English explanation to someone who does not grasp the full meaning of the plain English words – in relation to the concept – will not do the trick.
Kindest regards
Nicolaas Smith
http://realvalueaccounting.blogspot.com
http://finblogs.24.com/ViewBlog.aspx?blogid=c0aed443-0dc0-4430-ad48-e52f8ec67355
I am all for a dictionary / thesaurus for jargon and cliches. Have found myself falling into the trap of using BS (mentally wagging a finger at myself)! Having such a resource to educate myself out of the habit will be great. Could have a test at the end of it – to see how far you have grown beyond jargon.
Ja, but at the end of the day . . .