Posted by Jay Reay on June 04, 1998 at 11:50:59:

In Reply to: Re: Trust and Collaboration: English Translation Utility, etc. posted by Yogesh Malhotra on June 03, 1998 at 22:56:34:

Hi Yogesh
You might have guessed your "question for another day" would provoke a response from me! It is an interesting and important question and a good addition to the thinking about the implications of language on the communication of meaning.

Corporation-speak works within its narrow confines because regular users ascribe defined meanings to it and thus can understand each other, even if outsiders can't. It is an important element in the mystique of management - insiders preventing real communication extending outside their clique. Doctors and lawyers - and business consultants! - do it all the time. It secures the hold of the Guild over available work.

To communicate meaning widely - which is essential if we are to share (and thus leverage) knowledge in any environment - we must use commonly understood words and syntax. I don't want to get involved here in the debate about linguistics in terms of whether words can have meaning, but it seems self-evident that we frequently do communicate meaning from one mind to another by using words for which both understand a common meaning.... and we often fail to communicate if we use words which may be interpreted differently.

Choosing the right communication packages ("words") for the audience addressed is essential. That does not mean that we cannot use arcane languages like corporation-speak - or Scottish English, or LA Spanglish - if our auditors are insiders of the relevant culture.

Indeed, using such insider languages can be useful. They allow shorthand and quick understanding (which may be vital in emergency situations), often enhance the precision of meaning, and sometimes extend creative thinking by the dynamism of the taxonomy or structure, such as gang languages and other cultural argots.

For most of us though, in most situations, effective knowledge sharing requires that we use simple language with words whose "meanings" are widely shared.

N'est ce pas?

Regards, Jay

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• On Information, Meaning, Action & Meaningfulness Yogesh Malhotra 00:04:10 6/05/98 (0)

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