Roadside stand
A tower of babble We’ve noticed a surge of attention in the business press to one of our pet peeves — the painful state of corporate communication. More and more periodicals have been complaining about bad grammar, mind-numbing writing and in-house jargon. And it’s not just that corporate writing is so dull; there’s also a growing suspicion that it’s rooted in something deeper — like lack of integrity. That vaults the issue beyond mere wordsmithing. Why should people in business care about clear speech? “How well you write says a lot about you,” says communications coach Jim Gray in The Globe & Mail. “Unfortunately, many people in the workplace are saying bad things about themselves.” No less a business icon than Forbes griped recently about the “inscrutable babble” of corporate jargonistas. (Some examples: leveraging synergies, implementing core competencies, and facilitating strategic processes to focus on key deliverables.) “Using jargon is not only lazy, it clouds the intended message, something best conveyed in concise English,” the magazine said. What impression does it make, asks veteran communications professor Don Ranly, if the person answering your phone speaks incorrect English? The use of clear and concise language sets people — and businesses — apart from the crowd. Writing and speaking that is dull, uninspired and convoluted is “just not good busiCover photo by Carl Hiebert
The Marketplace May June 2010
The Word on words • “His speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart” (Ps. 55:21). • “Do not be quick with your mouth....let your words be few” (Ecc. 5:3). • “Your speech will mumble out of the dust” (Is. 29:4). • “You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language....” (Ezek 3:5). • “Set an example for the believers in speech” (1 Tim. 4:12). • “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech” (1 Pet. 3:10).
ness,” says Jim Ylisela in The Ragan Report. “What good is a vital message if no one hears it? What value is the mission if people don’t understand it?” Experts agree that buzzwords, if employed at all, should be used wisely, not wildly. Jargon, they say, comes across as rude and phoney while clear and plain messages convey that you are honest and friendly. Read any number of company memos and you’re sure to see murky writing and incorrect usage. Check yourself: Do you say you “feel badly” when you “feel bad?” Do you know the difference between “convince” and “persuade,” between “affect” and “effect,” between “infer” and “imply,” between “orient” and “orientate”? Do you know when to use “myself?” (Almost never, it turns out.) Some authorities see ethical issues at play, as corporatespeak, jargon and cliches scrub away real meaning to dodge accountability for mistakes and failures. “The best way to communicate, from the Bible to the
blogosphere, is through clear, simple conversational language,” says Ylisela. “Get rid of the hype, ban the corporate speak, say what you mean and mean what you say. Clarity begets productivity and innovation. Simplicity leads to better understanding, which leads to engagement. Period.” Work escape: Nearly a tenth of workers devote more than 12 hours a day to their profession in order to escape from personal problems, according to the International Labour Organization. Experts say working more than 50 hours a week could be a determining factor in work addiction. (Psych Central News) Spell-checkers? You just can’t trust them, as a prominent Australian publishing firm found. A recipe in its new cookbook for tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto went to press with a misprint suggesting that the dish required “salt and freshly ground black people.” The publisher blamed the error on a spell-check program that let “people” 2
slip through because it was spelled correctly (no word on how it got there in the first place). While defending the error as “quite forgivable” and complaining that people who objected were “small minded,” the publisher nonetheless ordered all 7,000 copies of the book destroyed. (Guardian) Mennonite Savings and Credit Union, Kitchener, Ontario, has been selected as one of Canada’s 50 Best Small and Medium Employers by Profit magazine. The magazine says MSCU, which is listed as having 135 employees, “integrates its core values of integrity, compassion and responsible stewardship into employees’ daily work. When recruiting, the credit union provides interview questions in advance, maintains communication with candidates throughout the process and offers constructive feedback. Employees are acknowledged for living their values through the firm’s Values in Action peer-recognition program.” Tardiness seems to be on the decline, possibly due to fear of job loss during the recession. A survey by CareerBuilder. com shows that 16 percent of 5,200 polled employees admitted to arriving late to work at least once a week. That’s a drop from the 20 percent reported in 2009. For those who came late, the top excuse was traffic (32 percent) followed by lack of sleep (24 percent). Among the outrageous excuses given: “I got mugged and was tied to the steering wheel of my car.” “My deodorant was frozen to the window sill.” “I dreamed I was already at work.” — WK
