7. Jargon Monoxide: On the Drawbacks and (Limited) Virtues of Hollow and Impenetrable Babble

“We have no idea what leaders mean by “let’s leverage our core competencies to create synergies that move the needle.” When you ask them to explain what it means for how people ought to act, it becomes clear they have no idea what they are talking about either. We also don’t know what consultants from places such as McKinsey mean by “the helix organization,” “squad-to-squad meetings,” or “fit-for-purpose accountable cells.” Of course, professors are not immune from such crimes against clarity—many of us take perverse pride in baffling our students and colleagues with highfalutin language.

We suggest three ways to dampen the damage inflicted by in-group lingo. The first stems from the power of generalists, who, as David Epstein shows in his book Range, play a crucial role in a world with so many specialists. You need to find and develop generalists who, apparently unlike UBS’s Peter Kurer and his colleagues, know enough about the jargon and work of key specialists to discern the virtues and risks, and who understand how to weave their varied efforts together.

The second solution is for people to slow down and translate their in- group lingo for one another—and, when possible, to agree on a common language.

3. Individual participant articulation.

There are real language barriers—both literal and cultural—that mean we often think we are hearing each other, but we actually have no clue what others are saying. We all have filters, only some of which we are aware.

In a gathering, this can create the utmost confusion. Folks are using different cultural references, different touch points and acronyms, coming from widely different experiences and passions—even if what they are saying is similar, they can’t hear and understand each other.

Tip: Remember that writing out the problem makes the invisible visible. Write down what you think the problem is, and then look at it the next day. If you find yourself using jargon in your description, it’s a sign that you don’t fully understand the problem. And if you don’t understand it, you shouldn’t be making a decision about it.