Prior to speaking to a group, a friend walked with me and said “Elwin, some advice; don’t use the words IT, or Enterprise here. The team will assume that you come from places that are old, big, dumb and slow - I know this is not you nor the way you work, but they don’t. When you use legacy terms you are assumed to be a legacy and we eat legacy for lunch.” This might be relevant for intrepreneurs (entrepreneurs inside of large organizations) when talking to tech focused companies, startups or equity players. I was going to write about 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. But the more I thought. This isn’t about past methodologies vs current practices, or old vs new or big vs agile. Communication isn’t about ‘versus’, it isn’t opposition. It is about trying to understand and be understood. The flip side to my friends advice above would be relevant for founders, or startups talking to large organizations who might not understand tech startup language like 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙪𝙢, 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙈𝙑𝙋/𝙈𝘿𝙋 (though I am sure they understand 𝙖𝙘𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙚 because that is why you might be there 😀 ) Know your audience, craft your message, so you and your points get across. With that said we may consider retiring some of the language of the past. IT and Enterprise may not feel human centric nor really describe the role/functions of tech, in large orgs. Tech concepts are complicated; we often use metaphors. Older metaphors not only may be insensitive, but also frame a poor reflection on modern architecture. 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧/𝙎𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚 assumes a centralized hierarchal approach which is no longer effective and doesn’t accurately describe intelligent orchestrated and choreographed interactions among peered nodes. hmm maybe this did end up about retiring the language of the past? - - - Remembering our walk 3 years ago Satish Menon past linkedin posts are archived: https://lnkd.in/dKg-e5X
Zach Hughes
2y
This is an interesting idea. I've thought about this plenty over the years. "IT" has been a standard term my whole career (however "IS" was also an acceptable alternative when I first started). If you are going to retire a term, you must simultaneously adopt a new term to replace it. That's a tall order. It's easy to rag on the "language of the past," but what's the universally accepted modern equivalent? "Enterprise" and "IT" don't bother me, but I've often pondered the alternatives. I often say that I'm a leader in "the technology organization." I drop the "information" part of IT and spell out the "T" which is more inclusive of all the kinds of technology we work with (things, digital, etc). The term "Enterprise" to me means big and mature. That's all. I do find that to be a helpful distinction at times. It means I don't work at a startup. It means I don't work at a small shop. Those are different worlds, in my opinion.
Keith Hoover
2y
Interesting take. But with all of the hype about company culture, inclusion, and listening to understand, it seems that your friend was just advocating a new form of bigotry, assigning his own prejudices to words that had perfectly good meanings. Culture does indeed eat strategy for lunch. But so did the old boy network culture of the '50's. Corporate strategy will always be held captive to corporate culture/group prejudices. Dress it up in new clothes if you like. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Elwin Loomis Yes and fun post! Hmm…words can be ‘loaded’ and evoke emotions…Clarity matters…Research your audience…Different languages sometimes nuance meanings….
Elwin: Seems to be that any generation that "eats legacy for lunch" needs to start in a cave. Maybe this is just a reflection of the fact that I am getting to the "legacy" generation and hate to be eaten. And I also believed, when I was in my 20s, that my generation created the universe. We all stand on the shoulders of others. My first reaction to your thought provoking post. Thanks.
You can only think in the words that you know
One of the best little books on communication I read was by Mary Munter, "Managerial Communication" that taught me the "AIM" method: Audience Intent Message
Great writing, Elwin!
Engineer
2yElwin Loomis - great post! There are really three lessons here: a) Retire meaningless/buzzwordy language (whether past or present). I watched a tech CEO mention machine learning and AI so many times in the course of a brief segment on 'Mad Money' that were there a drinking game I'd be drunk. b) Unless it's a technical seminar, story telling is a compelling way to present (I am still trying to figure this out) and, final point c) DON'T judge people just on language or the words they use. Many are not verbally facile but their content can be eye-opening and profound.