Human Factor

Buzzword Overload

Challenge yourself to replace worn-out corporate clichés with language that reflects a sense of sincere, authentic thinking. BY JOSEF MARTENS

My immune system has been triggered by COVID-19. No, I haven’t contracted the virus. It’s actually my “linguistic immune system” that’s being triggered on a daily basis. Even in pre-pandemic times, we frequently encountered buzzwords in the business world: phrases we use in the hope that we sound business-savvy. Yet no one would use them with the family at the dinner table because it would come across as just a little pompous.

Speaking with our children, we might talk about middle school, but in corporate speak, it becomes an educational solution.

When you put a phrase like rock climbing through the business translator, it stiffens into a family entertainment experience.

The pandemic expanded our vocabulary with other vague and vacuous words. Yet we feel obliged to parrot them back like a

Tibetan chant. It’s unprecedented how often we hear the word unprecedented. And if someone says “pivoting” one more time, I’ll scream. It is my all-time un-favorite. We’re heading for a new normal as we go through an unprecedented buzzword pivot.

Those with a tech background may know that pivoting is an engineering term that describes a rotation around a pin.

A sailboat pivots around a vertical axis that goes through the mast; a crankshaft pivots around a bearing; a ballerina or ice skater pivot. It involves a rotation; it has no forward direction.

You can see where I’m going with this: just turning direction without moving forward is not enough. It never has been.

We need to find new solutions that deliver value to the customer. This was important before the pandemic, and it’s even more important now. Just pivoting won’t get you successfully into the new world. It’s too small of a change, and you’re likely going to be left behind your competition – if you make it at all.

Begin to challenge and question the core premises that you made about your business. Come up with new answers to all of the assumptions you have been making. Expand the way you think about your business and your leadership role – not by making a small change, but by blowing away (in your thinking) the strategic ideas at the foundation of your business. Think from scratch. (Re-)start your innovation efforts and stop pivoting.

There’s another ubiquitous term that gets me: social distancing. This phrase is really misleading. The virus requires us to be physically or spatially distant, but in many ways, it is bringing us socially closer. (Yes, there are also events taking place that take us apart as a society, but they are not driven by the virus).

I’ve seen neighborly gestures of support, encouragement and love that weren’t there before. People offer to shop for others in need. Families find ways to pool their kids for childcare and even schooling at home.

A crisis gives us the opportunity to reflect on what is important and what matters most. We express this in language. The words we use matter. It is crucial to connect well with our work colleagues, our friends and our loved ones. Using the right words makes all the difference between growing further apart and being more connected.

Coming up with new platitudes and vapid corporate language is not helping us personally or professionally. More than ever, it is important to use language that is real and authentic. Tell your stories of what’s happening and not someone else’s.

Use normal language. Let it reflect your emotions. Don’t tell people how they should feel. Tell them how you feel. Use language at its most powerful. If we take anything out of this crisis, it is this: focus on what is important and express it well.

My challenge to you is this: for the next week, flatten your own buzzword curve. Pay attention to words such as pivot, unprecedented, new normal, social distancing, emerge and uncertain times. Catch yourself as you’re tempted to use any of them. Instead, use more descriptive language and keep it real.

Oh, and by the way, there’s a quote that keeps popping up lately. It’s by the Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” If you’re tempted to use it, you’re not there yet.

It’s unprecedented how often we hear the word unprecedented. And if someone says “pivoting” one more time, I’ll scream.

Josef Martens helps organizations dramatically improve their performance. You can reach him at JM@JosefMartens.com or (240) 938 1274.