Reducing jargon – brilliant, brilliant, brilliant

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An exasperated friend was just talking me through the gory details of the most jargon-laden meeting she had ever attended. The pinnacle of waffledom came when the meeting’s chair exclaimed ‘The clock’s against us, so moving forward, let’s circle back, elevate this to a helicopter view, and massively unpack this issue.’ ?Or something like that.

We all sort of know what he means – basically ‘let’s discuss this in detail at the next meeting.’? So why so many awful and redundant words? Surely less is more!??

Jargon is a marker for many things – both good and bad. Very heavily weighted in the bad zone though in my view.

In the negative column - it can show laziness, arrogance, an inward focus, exclusivity / ‘clubbiness’, insecurity, and a lack of preparation and incisive thought.? From a positive point of view – internally it can provide a technically accurate way of communicating precise issues within certain professions such as law or medicine. And, more widely, when someone drops a good ‘jargon clanger’ it can produce funny raw material for articles like this ….!

The key business issue is the real-world impact that jargon overuse can bring – ?lack of clarity, slower decision-making and just wasting people’s valuable time. Worryingly, recent research has shown that many young people have been put off applying for jobs in some sectors because they just couldn’t understand the impenetrable jargon in the job specs. ?

In meetings, where overuse is often rife – jargon can indicate someone free-wheeling, probably not having read the notes or thought much about the topic at all. This is why Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos apparently hosts critical meetings in the morning when we’re more likely to be alert. He also makes people read a 4-page memo at the start, so everyone is better informed.? All in a bid to make better, sharper decisions. Whether this reduces the level of jargon is another matter – but it’s definitely a good try.

So, how else do we stop it?? Well, we can just call it out and ask for clarification.

But this can be just a little embarrassing if it’s a major client or there is a power or major hierarchy dynamic in the room - but it needs to be done. A technique I often use is displacement i.e. ‘thanks for your project brief. Now I’m going to pretend to be a journalist for a few minutes - and ask some basic but vital questions, just to make sure I’ve captured everything.’

Others try the well-worn ‘it’s not you …. it’s me’ route – i.e. ‘I might be being really dumb here, but could you just outline the key objectives of the project again as I didn’t quite capture them.’

Some aren’t so kind to the jargon-deliverer. This can work but can also be brutal and potentially harm relationships. I’ve seen this happen.

Interestingly the word jargon?has French origins. It started being used on this side of the channel around the 1300s.? And it originates from the old French?word jargoun which describes a sort of chattering, particularly of birds.? Chirp, chirp.

Meaningless waffle isn’t a modern phenomenon though – the infamous philosopher Thomas Hobbes got really hot under the collar about it writing in 1651 that using jargon such as “metaphors, tropes and other rhetorical figures, instead of (using) words proper…” was a key way that human beings fall into absurdity. Maybe going a bit far … but I’m generally with Thomas on this one. ??

Every occupation can have its own language – medicine being a classic example. Last year I visited the GP complaining of a bad cold that had lasted for more than 2 weeks ?– she helpfully told me that I needed to manage the ‘manifestations of my aggressive post-viral sequelae’ Oddly, it left me none the wiser as to what I actually needed to do…

So, let’s do what we can to be clear and concise in all our communications – when people understand each other it just makes life SO much easier, and facilitates swifter, better and informed decisions and actions.??

So, let’s all run that notion up the flagpole and see where it gets us!

PS Do let me know about the most impenetrable jargon you’ve been party to this year…

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