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Learn the language of your business

There is, somewhat understandably, pushback against corporate speak. Agile, SCRUM Master, leader, people team etc. Usually it is because the words were devoided of their meaning or misused a lot.

What is not alright is, when people try to avoid business specific language at all. It simply does not make sense.

Each part of our life has specific language and slang that people in that part of their life use. We use different words at a pub, different at a football game, and different at church. It creates a feeling of common understanding and culture.

Also, we have different languages for advanced stuff. Like math, chemistry or architecture. Some languages are symbol or visual based, but in the end it is a form of a language. These languages make work actually more efficient.

You could do math in plain language, but it would be so cumbersome and hard to read, that no one would be able to follow your line of thought. The same goes for advanced chemistry. Or building a skyscraper.

The same goes for advanced stuff in any type of business or life. Using special language speed things up and actually makes communication more precise.

However, as mentioned, special terms can be misused. Usually so the speaker can sound smarter than they are.

This is not a good reason to get rid of special terms. It means we need to educate the user. It would be as if a child misused the plus sign to do the opposite (subtraction) and we stopped using the sign because of this.

Someone uses agile for something that has nothing to do with agile? Tell them so. Discuss it. This goes for any business specific term.

Of course, if you can say something in plain language, do that. But if it is faster or more precise to use a special term, use it.

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