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Buzzwords

Buzzwords aren’t all bad, but they can be vague, pretentious, and lazy.  Maybe they’re called buzzwords because they’re like mosquitoes:  annoying, hard to get rid of, and they’ll make you itch. We’ve all heard them, and most of us use them, but, like mosquitoes, they’re generally just irritating and useless. 

Empower:  Seriously, I hate this.  It implies that someone else has to give us permission to have power. It’s condescending too.  And demoralizing.  The opposite of power. 

Ideate:  It just means “think.”  Say “think.” “Ideate” makes you sound like you think too highly of yourself. 

Bleeding Edge:  Gross.  Cutting edge will suffice, if you must, and doesn’t make me flinch.

Bandwidth:  It’s trendy to use this word to identify a person’s or team’s capabilities, as in, “we don’t have the bandwidth to complete this project on time.”  But as someone who works in telecommunications, I prefer you use bandwidth the way it was intended:  the range of frequencies for transmitting a signal.

Best Practice:  Something either works or it doesn’t.  If one technique is more effective than the rest, why are there even any other options? 

Outside the box:  I admit to using this one, although I think it’s been beaten to death.  I can come up with a different phrase, but not a more effective one. 

Silo:  Trendy representation of a market “vertical,” which is a buzzword in its own right.  It’s graphic, but then why don’t we use “skyscraper,” or even “elevator shaft?”  Anything that goes up and down, as opposed to side-to-side, will do.

Synergy:  an unnecessary way of saying cooperation. 

Anything that’s been “ized” - weaponize, incentivize, Google-ize, Simpson-ize, Putin-ize.  Ugh.

Millennial: Although I’m old enough have earned the right to say “in my day,” I don’t like lumping people into such ambiguous groups.  A label for a cohort tends to be limiting, dismissive, and frequently derogatory.  Kids these days, am I right?

Hit the ground running: just overused filler.  I have faith that you can be more creative.

Culture – I believe strongly in a company having a clear mission – it’s unifying and allows for effective autonomy.  But “corporate culture,” is gobbledygook, misleading, and has come to mean “perk.”  Free trail mix and a Foosball table in the break room do not a culture make. 

Core Competency:  Embracing your fundamental strengths is not what “competency” means, and I’d rather do business with a company that strives for exceptional than one that encourages mediocrity.

Open the kimono. Creepy, just creepy.

I’m not totally opposed to buzzwords, though, and there are some I don’t hate.  Although they can be confusing and sometimes misleading, jargon can also act as useful shorthand, making it easier for people in the same industry to communicate. 

Disruptive:  I’m torn on this one – I don’t like it, it’s jarring and negative, overused, misused, and abused.  It’s also an effective, if annoying, way to say “significant change to the status quo.”   So, points for efficiency.  Plus, it’s more interesting than “game changer.”

Move the needle:  Makes me think of a speedometer, which is meaningful imagery for a powerful performance indicator.

Leverage:  It’s a diplomatic way to say “manipulate,” and I’m all about diplomacy.

Ecosystem:  I find this to be a lovely metaphor to describe the inter-connectedness of your niche (or silo, if you prefer), your competitors, your suppliers, and your customers.  So many corporate buzzwords are violent, but this one makes me feel peaceful and calm.  Or is that just me?

Sustainable: When used correctly, I’m all for it.  As in:  Can we manufacture and sell our products, using natural resources without stripping them from the planet?  But not: “…the sustainable development strategy makes it necessary to ensure close dovetailing with other community policies[1].”  Can I get a collective, “huh?”

At this point, I could say the bottom line is that buzzwords are low hanging fruit, and you would broaden the buy-in if your vocabulary were new and improved.  But I hope what I bring to the table is more impactful than that.  My pain point is that I don’t have an actionable exit strategy. In an attempt to sum up, though, your takeaway should be that going forward, you can grow your added value by compellingly drilling down to a measurable metric.  If you achieve this, you will deliver a groundbreaking, best of breed outcome.







[1] A Communication from the European Commission on the Social Agenda

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