I keep a running list of corporate buzzwords that mean nothing. It's longer than you'd think. Let's go through the greatest hits.
SYNERGY: What they say it means - 'The combined power of our teams working together.' What it actually means - 'We're merging departments and someone's getting laid off.'
LEVERAGE: What they say - 'We'll leverage our existing resources.' What they mean - 'We're not getting budget for this, so figure it out.'
CIRCLE BACK: What they say - 'Let's circle back on this later.' What they mean - 'I'm hoping you forget about this.'
LOW-HANGING FRUIT: What they say - 'Let's focus on the low-hanging fruit.' What they mean - 'Let's do the easy stuff and ignore the hard problems.'
MOVE THE NEEDLE: What they say - 'This will really move the needle.' What they mean - 'I have no idea if this will work but it sounds important.'
Here's why this matters: every buzzword is a layer of ambiguity. Ambiguity means nobody actually knows what they're supposed to do. So nothing gets done, and everyone's frustrated.
My modest proposal: try going one week speaking in concrete terms. Instead of 'let's leverage synergies,' say 'let's use what we already have.' You'll be amazed how much clearer communication becomes.