Dan Pallotta, writing for the Harvard Business Review, nails it. I recently attended the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Ottawa. There was so much of this crap communication happening. Not between the top people there, but rather amongst those in mid-level positions in an organization. I couldn't understand half of what was being said, nor did I care to try by the end. What was sad was how many of these people worked in communications departments.
Dan writes:
When I was younger, if I didn't understand what people were saying, I thought I was stupid. Now I realize that if it's to people's benefit that I understand them but I don't, then they're the ones who are stupid.
And later adds:
So you get phrases like, "You should meet this guy with the SIO. He's sort of this kind of social entrepreneur thinking outside of the box in the sustainability space and working on these ideas around sort of web-based social media, and he's in a round two capital raise in the VP space with the people at SVNP." How many times have you heard what you now recall to be precisely this sentence? […]
You will gain tremendous credibility, become much more productive, make those around you much more productive, and experience a great deal more joy in your working life if you look someone in the eye after hearing one of these verbal brain jammers and tell the person, "I don't have any idea what you just said to me."
(via Ben Brooks)