A few weeks ago, I was in a meeting when one of my colleagues said that they would “socialise” the decision after “circling back” with us. I didn’t say anything, but I sat there thinking, “I’m too old for this game, I no longer understand what people are saying to me.”
As a psychologist, I use the term ‘socialisation’ to refer to the process by which children learn and internalise society’s norms and customs. I had no idea that “socialisation” also meant “sending out an email”. For that, dear reader, is what my colleague was really saying.
If you are a regular reader, you will know that I have an issue with people using jargon instead of speaking in plain English. However, I make no apology for raising this topic again. That’s because new research shows that we need to be especially careful to avoid “corporate speak”, as it means you could be bad at your job.
Psychologists at Cornell University have developed a new tool called “The Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale” – I kid you not. When people score highly on this, they tend to have lower analytical thinking skills and less fluid intelligence. It also means they have lower decision-making skills and are less able to make good judgments. In other words, if you use a lot of corporate speak style jargon, you are likely to be demonstrating you are not very good at your job.
This adds to previous research from last year, which demonstrated that if you can’t spot nonsensical jargon in your office, you tend to overestimate your own abilities to do your job. In other words, if you are impressed by corporate-speak jargon, and especially if you repeat it uncritically, you may be advertising weaker judgement rather than greater professionalism. Equally, the Cornell study now suggests you become less capable of making decisions and doing your job well. You are on a downward spiral to poor work.
That’s the kind of thing that upset Elon Musk as far back as 2010. He sent an email to staff asking them to use less jargon and fewer acronyms. He warned that “people don’t want to seem dumb in a meeting, so they just sit there in ignorance”. That was me when I was told something was going to be “socialised”. I had to look it up…!
So, what do we do about it? If we ask people to explain the jargon, we risk exposing our ignorance to others, which can be embarrassing, so we avoid it. Equally, if we call it out, we risk being judged by those who use jargon. And that’s a problem, because people who use jargon a great deal are poor at judgment, according to that Cornell study.
According to the Harvard Business Review, there are steps companies can take to reduce BS. The deeper problem is often organisational. Jargon flourishes when people feel pressure to sound strategic, important or aligned, rather than when they are rewarded for being clear. When you give people roles that lack autonomy and feel empty, they start using BS to dress up the fact that they are not doing much. If you are a boss, rather than criticise people for using jargon or inventing madcap schemes such as having yellow and red cards at meetings, look to yourself and the way you have structured your organisation and the jobs within it.
You can also take your organisation further by getting training in plain speaking or by achieving a “Plain English Crystal Mark” from the Plain English Campaign to prove that your business is crystal clear in its communication.
So, I hope that is clear. As I have tried to explain, we need to leverage our core competencies to synergise across all verticals. By utilising an agile, omnichannel ecosystem, we can circle back, touch base, and drill down into our KPIs to maximise the impact of the paradigm shift. Socialise that…!
