The Buzzword Trap: Changing the Book Cover Doesn't Change the Content
Remember when "empowerment" was the trendy word plastered across global philanthropic campaigns? Phrases like "Empowering Women and Girls: The Key to Alleviating Poverty" were everywhere. Empowerment, participation, and other "warmly persuasive and fulsomely positive" words, as scholars Andrea Cornwall and Karen Brock describe, became buzzwords shaping the international development and social services field.
These buzzwords are often vague, generalized niceties that lack particularity, allowing anyone to interpret them as they wish without backlash. Who can argue against a mission to "empower" others? It sounds pretty empowering!
Yet in the development context, "empowerment" was frequently tied to economic growth, access to goods and services - the same old bandaid solutions - without addressing the root causes that could truly shift power dynamics and give the "empowered" a seat at the decision-making table.
As a DEI advocate and practitioner, I must admit the words "diversity," "equity," "inclusion," and "belonging" have also become buzzwords. Many companies and institutions use these terms without specifying how they're embedded into organizational structures, practices, and core values.
Fascinatingly, there's now a trend of replacing old buzzwords with new, shinier phrases: A major beverage company changed its Environmental, Social, and Governance goals to "People & Planet" metrics. More importantly, across sectors, Human Resources has been rebranded as "People & Culture."
Don't get me wrong - I support evolving language to reflect organizational shifts in principle. If a department transitions from Human Resources (implying people are mere organizational resources) to People & Culture (nurturing human relationships and workplace culture), I welcome that rebranding.
However, I take issue with simply changing names without restructuring practices and policies to reflect that philosophical shift. If your organization has or is about to change its HR department to the Department of People and Culture, that’s great - your organization is evolving. However, you must ask: besides new stationery and LinkedIn titles, what substantive changes demonstrate this evolution? Are practices truly reflective of the new name? Have priorities changed? Are you genuinely taking a people-centered approach?
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As the renowned management consultant Peter Drucker once said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." Regardless of the labels we use, it's the underlying organizational culture and practices that truly matter. A people-first approach is not just a label but rather it’s about fundamentally structuring organizations to support, develop, and empower their employees.
Contrary to the known phrase, don’t judge a book by its cover. The covers are meant to convey the contents. If a book is labeled "empowerment" on its shiny cover, only to victim-blame without acknowledging oppressive systems, I'd be disappointed. Similarly, if a "People & Culture" book offers the same old stories, the disappointment would be greater than before.
Let's move beyond buzzwords for buzzwords' sake. I suggest you start with two steps:
The civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer powerfully stated, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." In the context of organizational change, we too should be tired of empty rhetoric and superficial rebranding that doesn't lead to meaningful transformation.
The cover matters, but a book's contents are most important. Let's ensure our organizations' actions align with the promises made by our new carefully chosen words.
Written by Taraneh Vejdani , Program Facilitator @H