Every profession has its own jargon, and in every job, some love to wield it in meetings like a jazz musician blowing a saxophone. At the same time, others prefer to speak in plain language. Those who love to pump out phrases such as, “We’re leveraging a data-driven omnichannel growth architecture to optimize cross-functional stakeholder alignment” may seem like they’re clued in to the industry. However, a new study shows there’s a good chance they’re full of hot air.
Cornell University organizational psychologist Shane Littrell is an expert in BS. He actually did a study on whether you can “bullsh*t a bullsh*tter.” His most recent take-down is on “masters” of corporate jargon. He asked a big question: Do people who love using and hearing corporate jargon make better decisions than those who don’t?
Why is corporate jargon such a bad thing?
Littrell refers to corporate jargon as “a semantically empty and often confusing style of communication in organizational contexts that leverages abstruse corporate buzzwords and jargon in a functionally misleading way,” he writes. “At best, corporate bullshit can sometimes seem harmless. At worst, it can disrupt organizational and employee effectiveness in numerous ways including obstructing clear communication, increasing employee disengagement, tarnishing a company’s reputation, and exposing businesses to potential financial and legal risks.”
To find out whether jargon lovers are poor employees, he tested participants’ receptiveness to jargon and then their responses to a work-related decision. “The people that are the most susceptible to the corporate bullshit tended to choose the worst solutions to those problems on a consistent basis,” Littrell told The Guardian. The study also found that those who were receptive to corporate jargon scored lower on reflection, analytical thinking, and fluid intelligence.
This is borne out by a 2023 study by LinkedIn and Duolingo, which found that 40% of workers said they’ve had a misunderstanding because of jargon, while 61% said that those who use it have a better chance of getting ahead. This creates a negative cycle where those who make the worst decisions are elevated to positions of power simply because they speak the right language at work.
How to avoid using corporate jargon
Instead of helping people understand their jobs, jargon obscures communication, harming how we read scenarios and make decisions. The study also found that it’s a real turn-off, making employees feel less engaged. Few things can separate our careers from real life like having to speak a new language when we enter the office.
The key to reducing your use of jargon is to think before you speak. “Be thoughtful and mindful of your language choices. Can you say what you’re trying to communicate in a simpler way? Chances are you can rephrase to be more direct,” Communications executive Andrew McCaskill writes on LinkedIn. “This is particularly important when giving peers or employees feedback. Imagine your manager asking you to “run it up the flagpole” or to do some “blue sky thinking” and going back to your desk wondering–what on earth am I supposed to do… with THAT!?!?”
Littrell’s study is a great way of calling out those people in your office who you sensed were trying to get away with something by using flashy words. It’s also a great reminder to choose clear communication over corporate vagaries. If you’ve fallen into the jargon trap, don’t worry, Littrell says that anyone can do it. “This isn’t something that only affects people who are less intelligent,” he said. “Anybody can fall for bullsh*t, and we all, depending on the situation, fall for bullshit when it is kind of packaged up to appeal to our biases.”
