If you can’t make your point without using the words "leverage," "paradigm," or "ecosystem," you are hiding a weak argument behind expensive vocabulary
@Daojoan "ecosystem" is the new hot buzzword at my workplace. Everything's an ecosystem these days
@Daojoan I definitely prefer this over people who complain about somebody saying "fuck" for emphasis
@Daojoan Do I get bonus points for using all three in the same sentence?

@Daojoan

What about cursing? That seems to be in all my arguments these days... 😢

@Daojoan if you use potential at least two times, you are creating solution looking for problem
@Daojoan The one exception to this is if you are a bona fide Ecologist talking about Ecosystems.
@aadeacon @Daojoan … or a physics teacher talking about levers?

@aadeacon Likewise if you are discussing the philosophy of science, or picking the best stick to dislodge a heavy rock.

In my experience the best way to discourage someone from using metaphors poorly in business talk is to take them very seriously and assume a level of precision they didn't intend.

Like, if we're in an ecosystem, let's draw a diagram of the food chain. We can't possibly plan a business strategy if we don't know what tropic level we're at. Are we a primary producer, some level of consumer, an apex predator, or a detritivore?
@Daojoan

@Daojoan oh, are you saying I haven't found the synergy between the medium and the message?

@Daojoan Cornell's 'Bullshit Receptivity Scale' found that people who are impressed by that kind of language often struggle with analytical thinking and have poor decision-making skills: "“Rather than a ‘rising tide lifting all boats,’ empty rhetoric in an organization acts more like a clogged toilet of inefficiency,” a Cornell researcher said."

https://www.hrdive.com/news/workers-receptive-to-corporate-bs-may-struggle-with-analytic-thinking/814501/

(probably worth noting how adept AI LLMs are at generating corporate-sounding bullshit)

Workers who are receptive to ‘corporate BS’ may struggle with analytic thinking

“Rather than a ‘rising tide lifting all boats,’ empty rhetoric in an organization acts more like a clogged toilet of inefficiency,” a Cornell researcher said.

HR Dive

@Daojoan This confuses the abuse of language with language itself. A dull mind can hide behind jargon but a sharp one can use precise terms to compress thought. The problem is less vocabulary itself & more like emptiness wearing it like jewelry.

More dangerously?
Jargon reveals weak listeners just as often as weak thinkers.

There are 2 kinds of people who complain about "expensive vocabulary": those who've been deceived by it & those who fear being excluded by it.

@Daojoan
Glad to see our narratives are in alignment…

@Daojoan (slowly moves hands together, interlocking fingers)

S Y N E R G I E S

But I feel empowered curating our corporate culture with these terms. Now I need to create a reimagined hack, dang it.
@Daojoan anyone using 'onboarding' should be waterboarded
@Daojoan @achilleas but what if we leverage the new paradigm of consolidating ecosystem?