Is that Assumption you’re speaking?
February 10th, 2009 | 3 Comments
Life would be hard without assumptions. We assume people can understand us when we speak. Otherwise, we’d have to get painful verification one….word….at….a….time. We assume if that engine light doesn’t come on our car is running OK. We assume we’ll be allowed a certain amount of behaviorial leeway from friends.
Sometimes within companies, however, we can assume too much, especially when it comes to our internal language. The same lingo that greases the skids inside our companies might bring communication to a screeching halt in the outside world. I was speaking to a phone rep today and he was telling me that I would need to call back when “my order was provisioned.” Huh?
This style of tribal language runs rampant within technology companies. A suggestion: Anytime you are communicating something to the outside world, run it by a few friends or customers to see if it makes sense. Doesn’t take much time, and it could prevent a big assumption gap.
