In Search of Clarity in a World of Buzzword-Riddled Business Narratives

In 2015, while working for an international company in Brazil, I participated in a meeting with an Ad Tech solution provider. I remember how enthusiastic that man was. In the first few minutes of the conversation, it was clear he wanted us to know he had the very best Ad Tech solution in the market, and if our company worked with him, we would greatly benefit. This sounded great, but our team hoped to get into the specifics. However, the more questions we asked, the more we heard about "synergy," "thinking outside the box," "low-hanging fruit," "value-added," and "hit the ground running," among other expressions that sounded like fillers as opposed to any substantial piece of information.

Our team insisted, and questions continued. That business representative answered ceremonially at one point:

All I want is to take your company to the next level.

This particular expression was repeated more than any other one I heard during that meeting. I couldn't help but ask: "What is the next level?" My question was received with surprise. It was almost like I broke some protocol. That man looked confused and could not elaborate on what he meant by "the next level." The meeting was over.?

That experience made me think of buzzwords in business speak: they are often used to impress, embolden, and embellish a narrative. However, they become meaningless fillers if not embodied with intention and applicability in the particular context in which they are provided. Sometimes, buzzwords are needed; after all, we all want to go to the next level, hit the ground running, think outside the box, etc. But how to use them responsibly? And how can we go beyond mere "buzzwording" in business conversations? Perhaps more importantly, how can we discern between a needed common expression and an empty buzzword??

When my father was in law school, he took philosophy classes. His professor once asked his students to propose a definition for the word "doubtfulness." The professor warned his students that he was looking for original candidate definitions rather than just a mention of some existing definitions in dictionaries. Every single student started their answers with "It is when…", which led the professor to remind everyone that they were providing examples, not definitions. No student could give a proper definition for doubtfulness, let alone an original one. The professor then proposed:

Doubtfulness is the suspension of judgment in search of truth.

I recently watched a social media influencer interviewing university students and asking questions about grammar. One of the questions was: "What is a subordinate clause?" A very confident student answered: "I can give you an example," followed by, "The student is sitting at the table, which is gray," concluding with, "'which is gray' is a subordinate clause."

These examples illustrate how non-trivial it can be to define things. However, without proper definitions, we might miss two important notions I mentioned earlier: intention and applicability. In fact, this is what I believe lacks in any narrative founded on buzzwords.?

Of course, I get the appeal of buzzwords. They sound fancy and can quickly grant credibility to the speaker, especially in the eyes of casual observers. Less problematically, they can serve as mechanisms for the rapid identification of ideas via the use of well-known terms by general audiences. At the same time, if devoid of thought and proper consideration, buzzwords will lead to highly negative results, such as the protuberant inability to elaborate on the talking points of any given narrative.

An entire conversation based on buzzwords is frustrating. No actual information is transmitted, nor does the audience acquire concrete knowledge.

An episode of Key & Peele, a sketch comedy show, perfectly illustrates the depths of the frustration of a narrative based on buzzwords. A reporter is interviewing an American Football player who just won a game in a protagonistic fashion. When asked for his thoughts on the matter, the athlete responds: "We knew we had to go out there, give 100%, we executed, and it just went our way today." The reporter changes the question, hoping for a more elaborate answer, but he hears, "We wanted to have some fun, execute, one quarter at a time, and give a 100%." The reporter gets so frustrated that he starts asking questions about the athlete's personal life, food habits, and the like while continuing to receive the same type of cliche answers. At the peak of his frustration, the reporter, visually stressed, asks the athlete:

Can you just do me a favor and tell me one specific thing, like just one actual original observation that you had about today's game, the game that you won, almost single-handedly, do you think you can do that?

To the reporter's total desperation, the answer is "Oh, 100%."

This funny comedy piece gives us something to think about. Instead of thoughtless, repetitive, and generic content, the reporter sought "one specific thing" and "one actual original observation." This is precisely what business conversations should be about: facts, concrete evidence of each talking point, original observations and takeaways, and actionable insights.

Going back to the importance of definitions and using the key elements aforementioned, I now propose my definition of a buzzword:?

A term or phrase that is fashionable within a particular industry or context, often used to impress or somehow improve a narrative without clear intention or applicability. An expression that may lack substantive meaning or specificity, serving more as rhetorical devices than as precise descriptors of concepts or strategies.?

The technology world is one of the most prominent stages for buzzwords. It's widespread to hear about cutting-edge technologies designed to revolutionize the industry and seamlessly drive unprecedented growth for organizations. But what does that mean in practice? Words like innovative, creative, disruptive, revolutionary, and pioneering are also often overused in the technology space, especially by startups. These are all good adjectives to have associated with any company, product, or service, but just dropping them in the conversation without proper elaboration qualifies as a buzzword exercise.

The advice of my father's philosophy professor inspires proper investigation of notions, concepts, and ideas to understand something well enough to provide a candidate definition for it, regardless of how eloquent or definitive it might be. This exercise requires going beyond the surface where buzzwords lie, and it can be the first step towards communicating business ideas effectively.

For example, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word innovate as "to make changes, do something in a new way." A business narrative is more effective when a provider states that they "innovate by offering a solution for problem X twice as fast as alternative Y and by half the cost." Similarly, the word pioneer is defined as "a person or group that originates or helps open up a new line of thought or activity or a new method or technical development." Therefore, a statement like "we are pioneers in offering the product/service Y using the technique/method Z, which is proven to be 65% more effective than the state-of-the-art solution in the market." These statements are examples of communicating concrete value to the corresponding audiences while making the case that the solution provider is innovative and a pioneer. Even if the adjectives innovative and pioneer are not directly used, providing concrete bits of information that match the definitions of these adjectives will lead to more credible, digestible, and effective business communications.

Several years ago, the word blockchain appeared in many business presentations, and just mentioning it in the conversation would turn heads, regardless of the merits of each case. Later on, the same happened with the metaverse. Now, we are seeing another new phenomenon with artificial intelligence (AI). Some people like to say "the AI word", and others like to hear it. In many cases, the former are selling it to the latter. Without proper elaboration, AI can be just another buzzword in vanilla-flavored sales pitches. This is a good time to inspect how these words are placed in business communications more carefully.