Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Buzzwords Say All The Wrong Things

In an effort to simplify the process while working on a naming project I found re-reading this older post from the smart folks over at 37 Signals very helpful.

It totally still rings true today and helped to remind me of the fact that if you can't explain something to a seven year old, then you probably don't really understand it yourself.

Our industry is addicted to bullshit buzzwords. Emails are full of “I’m an insider” jargon, blog posts brim with tech duckspeak, and resumes are loaded with meaningless action verbs.

Everyone’s always implementing or enabling or optimizing or leveraging. There are endless value streams, efficiencies, solutions, infrastructures, and enterprises.

These buzzwords are often a mask. People who use them are covering up their ideas — or the lack thereof. They are overcompensating. They don’t have anything substantial to say so they try to use impressive sounding words instead.

But people who abuse buzzwords don’t sound smart. They sound like they are trying to sound smart.

Big difference.

People who really get it aren’t impressed by this sort of jargon. They smell BS. They can read between the lines and see what’s really there: fear. Fear of clarity. Fear there isn’t actually anything worthwhile to convey.

Translation: Is it time for some folks to re-skin their dynamic paradigm shift?

Absolutely.

Check it out: Buzzwords: 37 Signals.

That's Right,

HMK

Go Four It!