FLOCK
What word is used for each group of birds, and if we are going to ask that question, what word is used for the generic term “group” so we can ask that question? And can we determine the agreed-upon set of words to use so that when we all discuss this with each other we don’t create miscommunication?
Bill tells Luke “I saw a bunch of seagulls yesterday”. Luke tells Renee and George a flock of seagulls were seen recently. Renee asks Simon what it means when a flock is seen, and eventually we hear something about the change in seasons related to migrating geese. Meanwhile George has somehow started an argument between two groups about whether an 80’s band was seen in town and whether or not they are still touring together anyway.
This semantics of semantics (meanings of meanings) may sound abstract, boring to some, a waste of time to others, and downright confusing to many.
But some of us are working on it now and it matters to us so we IMPROVE our communication, especially across departments and teams that use language differently. Is a “topic” a landing page in a product that contains a structured view of content, and represents a key organizational principle for our overall work, or is a “topic” a subject that is being discussed in the text or conversation? Is a “snippet” a defined object that is reused in two or more topics, or is a “snippet” a selected string of text to display along with search results?
When communicating with others (especially with others who are not in your day-to-day workflow) the terms we take for granted can have vastly different meanings. Communication is a bidirectional activity. If it is important having the recipient explain it back (that little extra time) can greatly increase efficiency – you may not see it in the moment but the ripple effect of miscommunication can be huge, ultimately leading to teams developing solutions that don’t connect with other teams.
We are doing so much in a fast-paced high-impact environment. As we IMPROVE our communication, we will deliver more useful content, more useful interfaces, and more useful services more quickly, and when we do that many more people will FLOCK to see what we come up with next.