Words that make me cringe

I promised myself I would write another blog about the jargon of the non-profit word, and my VISTA site, but this is just my internal discussion.

I have been thinking about jargon for the last few days because I have had to begin changing my lexicon as I begin to work at my site. I also want to make sure I write down and recognize jargon as I pick it up so that when I am describing to others my work, I can be clear to NOT use jargon words when possible. The reason is that, as I wrote earlier, when dealing with people who are coming out of poverty, jargon words act as a barrier to them, at times. The jargon of "help" from service providers can make an unpleasant experience more intimidating. To be more inclusive, we must use more inclusive language and I want a guide to maintain my own self. Like I wrote in my previous blog, adapting to the job means changing myself. This isn't bad, but an anthropologist's job is to be able to explain to other people a culture, and language can be very powerful tool or a hindrance to that task.

The other thing I found out today about myself is that I unconsciously cringe at some language. It isn't because I disagree with an idea, but the way it was presented, because of the jargon, biased me.

So my boss and I were talking about my role and opportunities that we had identified between our program and another program we are connected to. I will talk more about this SWEET program later. My boss comes from a management and especially retail environment. He has been involved for years in the chamber of commerce and in his new position at my site been building up professional business relationships. But that word "professional" is almost a jargon word itself.

Professional to me means someone who wears a suit. It means they show up to meetings, use a computer, have agendas, and is skilled in some behavior or activity. Business professional means fluff. It is a word that makes me cringe. When I think of a "business professional" I think about a person who comes up with ideas and then tells someone else what to do. Usually it has to do with how to make money. I cringe just thinking about it. It is a person (usually male) who's good ideas aren't from the employees, but something that looks good on paper. I just don't relate to it, and in a way it is the reason I became an anthropologist. I want to change what it means.

I want a "business professional" to be an anthropologist, in a way. I want them to be leaders who let the sales people, customers, and producers of the goods come up with the ideas. I don't want the top down approach in the 21st century. I think about Sam Walton. His great idea was to pay people a living wage with benefits and buy big enough lots to get the lowest price and pass that along to consumers in poor neighborhoods. He wore a cowboy hat. But his idea got so big, and was so successful, after his death, a room full of business leaders in suits run the company now. I want business leaders to be the guy in the hat, not the suit. Suits make decisions based on numbers. Hard hats make decisions based on people.

But this is my internal stereotype. And I know it isn't always fair. I still know that "big business" is not all roses. There are businesses that don't make decisions based on sustainability, responsible stewardship of the environment, or its human cost. I also know that a lot of work has been spent, not just on re-branding corporations to look more friendly, but some really are more friendly. My internal bias still causes me to cringe at the word "business" or "business community."

This goes back to my discussion of jargon. The non-profit, especially private non-profit, world has adopted a language of business. I have a list of the words I have been keeping, but let me high-light a few: assets, investment, capital, production, entity, ask, development, cost, target, and mission.

As I become more educated about what I do and my "mission" at my service site, the language can change me, but do I want it to?