Use Clear Language in Agile

Clear Language Matters.

The business world is a strange place.  Being a white-collar professional is different from more traditional jobs.  A plumber fixes broken sinks, and a firefighter prevents your house from burning down.  You can explain these careers to an elementary school child, and they will understand.  In a global company, job titles are opaquer.  Business Analyst, Programmer Analyst IV, and Programmer Analyst III are popular titles.  You cannot explain to small children and most high school students what these job titles mean.  I still cannot tell the difference between a programmer analyst III and programmer analyst IV other than the paycheck.  The jobs are complicated, and the language we use is involved.  It is also a language that is easy to parody and creates confusion for people who have never experienced it.  As an agile coach or scrum master, it is up to you to make sure the language is clear and informs.

I began to think more seriously about this topic when Molly Young wrote a great article about “Garbage Language,” which crops up in business meetings.  Young exposes lots of phrases used around the office, including; level-set, key-learnings, and complexify.  It is a fun and nasty read which had me chuckling about the dumb things I have often heard in meetings.  It quickly became a divisive topic, and business people defended their use of language as a way to save time and communicate with peers.  To people watching the argument unfold, it seems like a pointless discussion about something which does not have much impact on daily life.  The truth is more complicated. 

How we use language is critically important. It is particularly notable how we use language at work because misunderstanding can cost millions of dollars, ruin reputations, and kill careers.  I also have a more fundamental reason for being careful with writing; I studied communications and debate.  My training required me to learn how to use language clearly to inform or persuade.  With either the written or spoken word, a communication major is trained to the level of instinct to use easy to understand language.  If you use jargon, acronyms, or business-speak, you had better explain it.  When someone is not telling the truth is better to call them a liar than to say they are “insincere.”  Unfinished work is not “In-process,” it is incomplete.   The lack of flowery language is the strength of people educated this way.

Clear and understandable language is excellent if you are a journalist.  In the modern cubical farms of most offices, clear and unambiguous language is fraught with peril.  The contemporary office contains mediocre people with big egos.  Power balances between office workers and executives are cavernous.  Finally, the uncertainty of working at a corporation means saying the wrong thing to the wrong person could undo a career that spanned decades.  Thus, using the phrase, “put a pin in this conversation,” is safer to say than, “you don’t know what you are talking about, and you should talk with me after the meeting.”  The phrase that forces me to grind my teeth is, “…it is what it is.”  It is a verbal surrender to the status quo, thinking, and justification for apathy.  I spent too many years hearing it muttered back to me like some zombie mantra. 

As a coach, be clear and informative with language.  Agile, Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, and Test-Driven Development contain plenty of acronyms and jargon; skip them.  It may be shorter to use TLA, but saying “Three Letter Acronym” is more easily understood.  I know I use the phrase “stakeholder,” often, but I still take time to explain its meaning.  Finally, be transparent, candid, and truthful. It is better to admit something is broken instead of “underperforming.”

So today, our learnings were to circle back and discuss the knowledge use of language from a ten-thousand-foot perspective.  My ask is that you internalize that precise language is a win-win and can build synergies in your brand. 

Until next time.