Thanks to Conner Forrest, who writes for TechRepublic, for this lineup of 10 terms we should drop from our business vocabularies. As he puts it, “Overused jargon is everywhere, but buzzwords and phrases are particularly prevalent in the startup scene.” He’s also quick to say that some of these terms have evolved because fledgling companies have no model terminology to describe what they do, so don’t brand him a complete curmudgeon.
Here’s the list:
1. Disruption — Is a technology really disruptive or does it just expand or simplify an existing technology?
2. Pivot — Are you talking about a change in focus or a change in direction because your original ideas didn’t work?
3. Comparison to known entities — Can you find a better way to describe what you’re up to than comparing yourself to a familiar product or service?
4. Growth hacker — Is one person only responsible for your company’s growth? And doesn’t this term sound less than benign?
5. Mutual NDA/FriendDA — If you’re afraid your friend is going to steal your great idea, keep it to yourself or consult a trusted mentor.
6. Ninja/Rockstar/Wizard — “Employees should be able to proud of what they do without a cliché appellation for their job description.”
7. Curation — “We don’t produce our own content.” (Hey, I get that. Clearly I’m not above using others’ ideas as a springboard for my posts, but I’m not going to call myself a content curator unless absolutely forced to.)
8. Fremium — “Let’s just go back to saying we have a free version and a paid version.”
9. Social media consultant — You may have many Twitter followers, but it doesn’t follow that you have social media consultant-level expertise.
10. True north — Referring to something as your “True North” is just a contrived way of saying, “I am focused on X.” (I myself would love it if folks stopped referring to their “passion.” Can we all thank Carly Fiorina for this overused addition to the business lexicon and quietly drop it?)
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