Language in Business

One of the most useful things I’ve ever learned came from David Maister. He said rather than asking “What is the right answer?” we should ask “What is helpful answer?” This simple substation of a word changes everything.

To illustrate Maister’s point, imagine a technical expert sure that the best solution is a certain technology. He rails against the stupidity of the committee which does not accept his advice and simply insists he is right and that’s that what matters (and yes, for the record he is ‘right’). But if someone is always “right”, but never has any impact on what happens then what is the point? If the expert were instead to say to himself “What would be helpful?” then suddenly it opens up a world of choices. Perhaps he should be guiding the group to a compromise or reframing the issue (which may change his own analysis on what is right), or managing their disappointment that the best decision requires them to pass on bad news to staff they care about.

There is little better development you can give to people with a strong technical background than to teach them to replace “right” with “helpful.”

In my own work on HR metrics I’ve found a key substitution is to replace the word “measure” with “assess”. Measurement is a narrow concept, too narrow for the world of business. If we ask “how can we assess the impact of the program” rather than “how can we measure the impact” then we immediately open up a much more helpful set of possibilities.

Henry Mintzberg didn’t suggest as neat a substitution, but he would like us to use the word “leader” less often and instead talk about community or citizenship . Leadership is not a bad word anymore than “right” or “measure” are bad words, however in American management the focus on leadership has distorted into a worship of the elite. The continued talk about leadership blinds us to the importance of the whole community of people who work together in an organization. Whenever you find your organization talking about leadership, try to balance that discussion with a talk about community.

The words we use do matter.

Mintzberg also warns against the misuse of words. When you call something “managed care” how can you possibly be against it? Any time there is a term that you can’t possibly be against then it doesn’t stimulate thoughtfulness. If you find your organization using language that by its nature stifles debate then you ought to challenge that language.

“Leadership sounds wonderful,” says Mintzberg, “but what people don’t realize is that every time you identify a leaders you are also identifying a whole bunch of followers. People might say leadership is about empowering people and engaging them but it isolates the individual. If you create a turnaround by virtue of a leader, then that turnaround may only be good for as long as that leader lasts. We make things dependent on individuals and then they are not sustainable.”

Kenny Moore suggests that instead of asking “How can we solve this problem?” we sometimes should be asking “How can we manage this predicament?” Problems are technical matters, they have a solution. Predicaments are the stuff of human systems, there are no real solutions only compromises, ambiguities and choices of lesser evils. Moore notes that early in his career his job required him to face problems which he solved, leaving him feeling pretty good at the end of the day. Later in his career he was more likely to face predicaments which have no final solution and even after he managed the situation he’d leave conflicted and in doubt. That is the reality of the human experience and we must learn to approach predicaments for what they are and that they demand humility and wisdom not brilliance.

Here are two other useful language substitutions:
• Don’t ask “How can we motivate employees” ask “How can we support employees”
• Instead of “How do we grow this business” ask “How do we create a sustainable business”

Jon Ingham notes the numbing effect of certain phrases. He says, “I'm not keen on certain phrases such as 'you can only manage what you measure', or 'ROI is the holy grail' which people tend to trot out without really thinking about what they're saying and if they really believe in this. HR has got to play a part in bringing a more people focused language into organisations.”

What got this post initiated was a conversation in Fitou with Leif Edvinsson. He pointed out that one term for “management” in Swedish is skötsel which has connotations of “care” and “tending”. Language is not everything, but someone who goes to work to “care for people” or “tend the operation” may well behave differently from some who shows up to work ready to “manage”.

So what does all this mean? Well, I expect marketing people to know all about the desires of customers. I expect accountants to know about the latest subtleties in accounting law. And I expect HR professionals to be sensitive to the role language plays in affecting organizational behaviour.