Ever had the pleasure of
playing office bingo (buzzword bingo, bull**it bingo,
etc.)? If you've never played, go to the buzzword bingo
site on the
Funny Pages, then give it a try. You can play at any
meeting - but play at your own risk!!!!
It's a fun game, but
buzzwords are not funny. They are a real barrier to
communication, for several reasons. First - if you have
to explain your words - you're not communicating!
Synergy. Anyone in
the corporate world has said the word but how many
really know what the heck it means? It doesn't mean
working together, it means "the working
together of two things to produce an effect greater
than the sum of their individual effects."
What is
accountability? It is not holding someone responsible
for mistakes.
It is "the property that ensures that the actions of
an individual or an institution may be traced uniquely
to that individual or institution." Or, as a former
boss of mine said, "Accountability means doing what
you say you're going to do, when you say you're going
to do it."
If I knew where my
paradigm was, I'd change it! A paradigm
is a "set of assumptions, concepts, values, and
practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality." Changing your paradigm
constitutes much more than changing the way you work -
it means changing the way you think!
Metric? I thought the
metric system went out of style in the 70s. Sorry, but
its a new word for measure. Such as "Each department
will have its own metrics." That means each department
will have its own measurements, be it sales, profit,
return on investment, etc.
If you can use a common
word to say the same thing, use it!
According to
Accountemps,
the most overused buzzwords, clichés and jargon in 2004
were:
“At the end of
the day”
“Synergy”
“Take it offline”
“Win-win”
“Customer centric”
“Core competency” |
“Solution”
“Paradigm”
“Redeployed people”
“Value-added”
“Generation X”
“Alignment” |
“Thinking outside the
box”
“Metrics”
“On the runway”
“Get on the same page”
“Accountability management”
“Incremental” |
I like to call these
"stop words." When your brain hears them - it stops,
tries to figure out the meaning of the word, what it
means in the context in which it was used, etc. In the
meantime - you're missing the rest of the meeting.
Too often, buzzwords
really don't mean anything. The first time I heard the
phrase "going forward" I thought it was an accounting
term. After a few weeks of hearing the phrase, I finally
asked. It meant
the future! So our going forward budget was our future
budget - wow, what a revelation. I made a prediction at
that meeting that "going forward" would be the newest
corporate buzzword - and I was right.
The phrase is
unnecessary, as in "Going forward, we will not use
e-mail to send confidential information." Drop the
phrase and the sentence means the same thing. When I
heard that "We will be more proactive going forward" at
a meeting one day, my reply was "It sure would be hard
to be more proactive in the past." I probably shouldn't
have said that, though it did get a laugh.
According to
BuzzWhack, a
buzzword is
usually an important-sounding word or phrase used primarily
to impress laypersons. Check out there web site, you'll
love it. Check out the dozens of examples of writing
that fails to communicate.
Buzzwords are also used
to hide the truth. Since we know that, we think "lie"
when we hear them. We all know what "controlled
flight into ground" is, don't we? It means a plane
crashed into a mountain because the pilot didn't know
the mountain was there. "Negative Patient Outcome" means
the guy died. One of the newest is "career enhancement
opportunity." Think about it now - what does that mean
to you................ Sorry, it means you're getting
fired, and that gives you an opportunity for career
enhancement since you'll have to look for another job.
Someone actually wanted me to use that once - I refused.
Buzzwords are bad. Join
the growing movement and refuse to use them.
Let me finish with a
short note about jargon, which is language used by a
specific group of people. Jargon is not necessarily bad,
as long as it isn't used outside your group. Jargon is a
shortcut that can improve communication, but it only
works within the group. The danger is that jargon
becomes part of your everyday language and you may start
using it outside the group. Be aware of it, because
jargon can sneak into your vocabulary.
|
