Nicholas Craig column
Sep 9 2005 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal
Let's do some joined-up thinking, eat some reality sandwiches, and run this idea up the flagpole to see who salutes. We are obsessed with meaningless business jargon.
Have you heard about the latest boardroom pastime - buzzword bingo, in which employees tick off corporate-speak used by bosses? A survey by Office Angels found 65% of us frequently encounter - or use - business jargon in meetings.
America started it all of course - what with Silicon Valley's computer jargon or "geekspeak" and the pseudo-science of business theory.
The growing habit in this country of sending bosses to management courses threatens to lead to the invention of a whole new language known only to those with more than one acronym to their name.
The worst thing about jargon is that it is so catching. Ugly words and preposterous phrases somehow stick in your head and you can all too easily find yourself on the verge of sounding like Nerd of the North-East.
Incentivise, proactive, synergy, strategic fit, gap analysis, bottom line, out of the loop, benchmark, value-added, think outside the box, and so on. They're used far too often as sloppy shorthand and new age management speak instead of talking plain English in words that get across what you mean.
What business jargon implies is you're part of a fairly exclusive, cutting edge club. It's probably a sort of security blanket for managers in a scary, competitive world. As phrases grow to take over conversations, they resemble a strange new tongue that brings together like-minded businesspeople. Heaven help us if this in turn leads to blossoming relationships and marriage.
The next generation could no doubt partner the world of tomorrow and co-create change.
What kind of productive work can be done in this jargon-suffocated environment? Those using the jargon are only hiding behind it because they are clueless. Those not in with the jargon are "out of the loop" and, therefore, cannot contribute ideas.
The increasing sales of management theory books, lectures and talks means the use of jargon looks set to continue. So if you think of your family as a "team-based organisation", if you find yourself saying you're "highly leveraged" rather than in debt and you end arguments with "let's talk about this off-line", you're hooked.
Communicate rather than baffle - it's not a problem, but an opportunity.
Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton LLP.
