Sharing a common language/vocabulary is essential for learning

Recent reading has me thinking about how important a common language is for collaborative learning. By "common language" I mean a shared vocabulary and consistency of terminology (not English, Spanish, etc.) As I see it, much collaborative learning derives from individuals absorbing and building upon the thoughts, ideas, arguments and lessons of others. Common language is essential to this endeavor, lest we find ourselves talking past one another.

In Now Discover Your Strengths,  Marcus Buckingham devotes an early chapter to describing "themes," which he then builds upon through the rest of the book. Buckingham explains that establishing a common language around the relatively new concept of the strengths movement is an essential first step.

The third revolutionary tool is a common language to describe your talents. We need a new language to help explain the strengths we see in ourselves and others. This language must be precise; it must be able to describe the subtle ways in which one person differs from another. It must be positive; it must help us explain strength, not frailty. And it must be common; it must be a language in which we are all fluent so that not matter who we are or where we are from, we all know exactly what is meant...

By precisely defining his terminology, Buckingham ensures the reader has a reasonable chance of understanding the nuance of the message that follows. Beyond the book, the author provides a starting point for future communication with readers who may submit questions or comments, audiences at speaking engagements and the media.

The flatter the world becomes, the wider the potential circle becomes of those with whom we may communicate and collaborate, which in turn, increases the need for common vocabulary.

Unfortunately, there are many examples of language used so imprecisely that it obscures rather than enlightens the subject. We often recognized murky language as soon as we use it, as Peter Rip does here: 

I was stretched with my partners.  We were thrashing.  We knew we had something Big, but somehow it was the Business We Dare Not Name. Technology, Platform, Application, Solution -- these are all gobblegook businesspeak that don't define anything concrete.

Peter was quick to point out that his efforts were lacking definition, yet such businesspeak is fairly common in daily conversation. I believe that people react to vague language in a couple of ways, neither of which spurs understanding or learning. First, we may think that we (the listener) are ignorant, either not knowing anything about the subject or too dense to comprehend it. Second, often more accurately, we may think the speaker either cannot communicate well or does not have anything meaningful to say.

In either case, a better solution is to strive to use concrete language that is commonly understood by the audience, whether employees, teammates, clients or the general public.  When collaboration is essential, take the time to define terms - establish a common language.

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Blaine Collins is the author of the Stronger Teams Blog, a place to explore useful ideas and strategies for improving teamwork, collaboration and team leadership in professional organizations. Blaine will contribute to JJL Love Affair with Books by reviewing Marcus Buckingham's newest book, Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance on March 31.

Comments

[Rosa Say]

This is a subject close to my heart Blaine! As you know, the “Language of Intention” is very much a key concept of Managing with Aloha, with 19 Hawaiian words used NOT to teach people Hawaiian but to elevate the meaning that managers may normally associate with the words they’ve always used previously for values like integrity, responsibility, persistence … and more. I’ve had success with this because our vocabulary IS increasing so much as the world gets flatter in our global consciousness; we’re not so insistent about sticking to our own language when we come across words which actually explain our intentions better. For instance, I still think that the Japanese word kaizen explains continuous improvement in the best, most succinct way. And it’s pretty cool that I typed this comment in Word first, and spell check recognized kaizen in its universal dictionary.

The language we use in our collaboration is getting to be more fascinating everyday … we google (as a verb), skype, captcha, meme, blog … all words not in my vocabulary less than five years ago.

If I may share another article, "in the work world, think of vocabulary as your misconception killer."
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/the-most-underutilized-tool-for-effective-communication.html

[Blaine Collins]

Great article Rosa, well worth the read for anyone who missed it or for re-reading!

Effective use of vocabulary is both a skill and an art, for which I continue to seek improvement.

Thanks for commenting.